Index rebalancing gives late life to rally

OPPORTUNISTIC profit-taking and heightened US-Iran tensions kept a lid on the Singapore stock market for most of Friday before index rebalancing nudged it over the top near the end of the day.

Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3,321.40, up 6.89 points or 0.2 per cent. On the week, the benchmark index advanced 98.77 points or 3.1 per cent from last Friday's close of 3,222.63.

The STI spent most of Friday's session hovering around Thursday's closing price before edging up to close higher. Market watchers attributed the day's performance to a combination of profit taking by investors and worries over US-Iran relations.