US rate fears trim STI's gain for the week

COMMENTS by US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday about moving ahead with the interest rate hikes "in a timely fashion" because it is "the prudent thing to do" weighed on stocks here, dragging the Straits Times Index (STI) lower on Thursday and Friday.

These losses ate into gains made earlier in the week, resulting in the index recording a net gain of just 12 points at 3,010.47. All throughout, volume was low, Friday's 1.1 billion units worth S$743.3 million when the STI dropped 13.1…