Poor US data dims market moods

INVESTORS on Friday were forced to base decisions on uninspiring cues such as Thursday's US economic data releases as that familiar market driver, trade talk news, was in short supply.

The latest figures from the US showed that sales of durable goods missed expectations while home sales hit a three-year low, stirring up unease over slowing economic growth. Key indices in the US closed lower overnight, and their counterparts in Asian markets including Singapore followed suit at their respective openings.

The key Straits Times Index (STI) opened with a 0.6 per cent drop, followed by a short-lived spike. It spent the rest of the day trading upwards, nearing but never quite recovering to the previous day's close.