Market wraps up 2015 with a loss of 14.3%

IN some senses, the week just past was a microcosm of the year just past, with prices drifting lower in poor volume and the only meaningful interest coming in the 30 Straits Times Index components.

Poor volume and weak sentiment aside though, there were differences between events of this week and 2015 - in the first half of 2015, the main market drivers were Greece's financial woes and its likely exit from the eurozone, while in the third quarter and most of the fourth, it was China's sliding economy and plunging stock market.

Greece and China appear to have relinquished their positions as prime market movers in recent weeks, with December's primary focus being the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting mid-month at which US interest rates were raised by 25 basis points.