The focal point of market talk this week was on the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus ahead of Chinese New Year, as fears of the possibility of a new widespread epidemic kept investors on their toes.
China has stepped up its efforts by widening a travel ban beyond Wuhan, where the virus originated, with public transport now suspended in more than 10 cities.
Overall, cautious attitudes still prevail in Asia, despite the backdrop of global equities trading near all-time highs, steady corporate earnings and a recovering global economy.
In a shortened session yesterday, the Straits Times Index (STI) made steady gains across the session to finish at 3,240.02, adding 5.46 points, or 0.2 per cent.
On the week, the STI lost 41.01 points, or 1.3 per cent, from Jan 17's close of 3,281.03.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan were trading higher while Malaysia was slightly lower. Markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for the holidays.
In the half-day session, trading volume in Singapore clocked in at 1.11 billion securities while total turnover stood at $760.13 million.
Decliners beat advancers 179 to 155. Thirteen of the benchmark's 30 counters ended in the red.
Thai Beverage was the most actively traded of the STI counters.
Shares in the brewer turned the corner on a 9 per cent decline over the first four days of the trading week to add 0.5 Singapore cent, or 0.6 per cent, to 79.5 Singapore cents, on 51.8 million shares changing hands.
Among telcos, StarHub added 1.3 per cent to close at $1.51 after agreeing to put up a joint bid with fellow telco M1 for one of the four 5G network licences in Singapore.
On the joint bid with M1, Citi Research analyst Arthur Pineda said: "On the surface, network sharing should be welcomed by investors as this reduces the risk on earnings and dividends for StarHub."
M1's parent Keppel Corporation edged up 0.15 per cent to $6.75 after posting a 42 per cent increase in its fourth-quarter bottom line to $191.4 million, on the back of stronger performance from the offshore and marine (O&M), property and investments divisions.
Revenue for the fourth quarter was $2.2 billion, up 31.1 per cent year on year.
"Looking ahead, the outlook for the company's business divisions appears robust, property sales should continue its growth trajectory, and we expect O&M to continue its new order win success from 2019," said UOB Kay Hian head of research Adrian Loh.
