THE final US presidential debate takes place at 9am Singapore time on Thursday, which could explain Wednesday's quiet and relatively listless trading session.

In keeping with a recent, well-established pattern, the Straits Times Index (STI) drifted within a narrow band, spending most of the day tracking the Dow futures before a late push enabled it to close with a net gain of 13.99 points at 2,844.62.

The slight upward bias, though, was most likely thanks to firmer oil prices and encouraging earnings reported by US firms on Tuesday.