A forgettable week in the market in run-up to Aug 9

IT hasn't been a particularly good week for the local stock market, with the Straits Times Index (STI) dropping two out of the four days, and with Thursday's 5.27-point rise to 3,196.66 only a token - and feeble - attempt at a National Day rally.

Combine this with declining volume and, perhaps most importantly, the loss of momentum and interest in penny stocks, it adds up to four days that dealers would prefer to forget. For the week, the STI lost about six points. On Thursday, the its rise did not capture the broad-based weakness evident in an advance-decline score of 193-261.

Providing the backdrop was another intensely volatile week for the China market, the steep losses in which have been causing spillover selling here.