STI down 1.2% for week despite US political turmoil

POLITICAL developments in the United States dominated the headlines this week but despite Wall Street's worries and weakness, the Straits Times Index proved reasonably resilient - on Friday, its 4.74-point fall to 3,216.92 brought its loss for the week to just 38 points or 1.2 per cent.

Trading volume between Monday and Thursday averaged S$1.3 billion, dipping on Friday to two billion units worth S$1.2 billion. Excluding warrants there were 214 rises versus 207 falls so the session was very mixed.

Wall Street was rocked early in the week by reports that US President Donald Trump may have asked ex-FBI director James Comey to drop the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn's alleged Russian ties.