Holiday season makes for STI's dull start

THE lack of fresh leads - commonplace towards the end of the year - made for an uninspiring start to the trading week, which itself serves as a reminder that Christmas is just around the corner.

On Monday, Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI), which stayed range-bound, opened with a slight loss but steadily overturned the dip to close at 3,214, eking out a 1.61-point or 0.05 per cent gain in the process.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, markets were mixed. Malaysia and Taiwan were higher. Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea were little moved. Australia and China posted losses.