THE Singapore bourse took another breather on Thursday after scaling fresh 2½-year highs with the benchmark Straits Times Index closing modestly lower by 0.2 per cent amid a quiet data day.

The STI fell 7.8 points to finish at 3,512.68 on Thursday, taking the cue from Wall Street's overnight showing, with major US indices paring some gains and with the exception of the Dow, to log the first decline for the year. The softer market unfolded amid uncertainty within the US bond market on a news report that China may potentially halt purchases of US Treasuries.

Still, the markets can be forgiven for pushing the pause button after their stellar performance that spilled over from 2017.