Will STI close 2013 with a bang or a whimper?

AS 2013 winds down to a close, it's obvious that, barring a major year-end miracle, the Straits Times Index (STI) - which rose 19.7 per cent in 2012 - is set to turn in a poor showing this year. It started 2013 at 3,167 and closed at 3,172 last Friday: a measly gain of just 5 points in almost 11 months.

Twelve months ago, there was a sense that the worst was over for the global economy, that the money printing by the US was working and turning its economy around, and that China would continue to grow strongly while avoiding a hard landing.

So it was that the investment community was generally bullish for the year that lay ahead; one local house, for example, said it was not unreasonable to expect the STI to gain 24 per cent.