STI edges up in holiday-shortened session

WITH the lack of new market developments, the annual pre-Christmas lull was in full swing. Asian benchmarks followed a ho-hum session on Wall Street and were range-bound in a thinly-traded session.

"Admittedly, all was fairly calm in markets. But this of course may be attributed to the lack of interest and liquidity in thin and silent holiday markets," said Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho Bank's head of economics and strategy for the Asia and Oceania treasury.

Even though the Singapore market was open for half a session, the Straits Times Index (STI) managed to produce a decent showing, adding 7.67 points or 0.24 per cent to close Tuesday at 3,221.67.