HOLIDAY cheer was in short supply in the Singapore market on Monday, with the key Straits Times Index (STI) barely treading water in a mercifully shortened trading session before Christmas.

The index closed the half-day Christmas Eve session just 0.16 per cent higher at 3,051.06, up 5.02 points from Friday's close of 3,046.04.

Trading on the bourse was predictably thin, with 602.2 million shares worth S$461.6 million changing hands, compared with volume of 1.3 billion worth S$1.27 billion on Friday. Losers outnumbered gainers 193 to 118, or about five down for every three up.