STI snaps 4-day winning streak with 0.5% slide

A FUSION of three key factors gave the local bourse's key barometer no chance to notch gains on Friday, snapping a four-day rally over a short trading week that had one day before pushed the 30-stock Straits Times Index to a 22-month high.

An overnight fall on Wall Street - its biggest in three weeks - amid disappointing earnings, and a retreat by Singapore's three banking stalwarts after robust gains in previous session plus persistent whiplash of Noble Group shares, led the STI to finish 15.82 points, or 0.5 per cent, lower on Friday at 3,255.29.

The mood elsewhere in the region was mostly downbeat with Japan's Nikkei 225 down 0.4 per cent, South Korea's Kospi losing 0.5 per cent and Australia's ASX 200 falling 0.7 per cent.