THE recent rally of Singapore shares was finally halted on Friday, due to the absence of bullish leads and downbeat corporate earnings.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) eased 1.19 points, or just 0.04 per cent, to 3,038.71, putting an end to its six-session winning streak. Some 1.7 billion shares worth $803.1 million changed hands.

In contrast, key regional markets mostly closed higher, with Hong Kong up 0.60 per cent, South Korea 0.70 per cent in front and Australia adding 0.91 per cent. But Japan shed 1.53 per cent.

Here, 14 of the 30 STI component stocks finished in positive territory, with the same number of losers and two unchanged.

The losers included Thai Beverage, down 1.5 cents to 51.5 cents, and Golden Agri-Resources, one cent behind at 52 cents.

But there were bright gains for CapitaMalls Asia which added 5.5 cents to $1.795.