The lack of fresh leads that usually marks the festive season meant an uninspiring start to the trading week, with many investors likely counting down the hours until the Christmas break.
The Straits Times Index (STI) opened with a slight loss yesterday, but overturned the dip to close at 3,214.00, eking out a 1.61 point, or 0.05 per cent, gain in the process.
Markets elsewhere were mixed. Malaysia and Taiwan were higher, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea were little moved, while Australia and China posted losses.
The Shanghai Composite Index fared the worst, falling 1.4 per cent - the most the benchmark has lost in a single session in six weeks.
Investors will continue to focus on updates from the "phase one" trade deal between the US and China. Washington has stressed that a deal will be signed next month, while Beijing said import tariffs on 850 US products will be reduced from New Year's Day.
"The clear interest in keeping this momentum going would likely keep prices supported in the near term," noted IG market strategist Pan Jingyi.
That said, the medium-and long-term outlooks remain murky.
Ms Agathe Demarais, the global forecasting director at The Economist Intelligence Unit, wrote: "Despite this positive sign, we continue to expect that the US-China conflict will persist in 2020 as it spills over into other areas, such as the financial and tech spheres."
Trading volumes here came in at 1.32 billion shares worth $815.78 million, with gainers edging out losers 191 to 187.
STI counter Yangzijiang Shipbuilding saw heavy volumes, jumping 6.5 per cent to $1.14 with 70.7 million shares traded.
The firm said executive chairman Ren Yuanlin returned to work yesterday after a four-month leave of absence to assist the authorities with an investigation in Beijing.
Singapore Press Holdings was unchanged at $2.16 after announcing it is expanding its portfolio of purpose-built student accommodation with the acquisition of seven assets in Britain for £411 million (S$720 million). Mapletree Logistics Trust closed flat at $1.70 on its debut as an STI component. The Reit is up 35 per cent this year.
Among pennies, Ocean Sky International fell 22 per cent to 3.9 cents. Last Friday, the Catalist-listed civil engineering firm inked a deal to buy a Melbourne office block for A$21.83 million (S$20.5 million), to be funded by a mix of internal resources and bank borrowings.
