The local market on Friday continued to shrug off the reduction in United States money printing, outperforming the region in the process.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 24.25 points or 0.79 per cent to 3,094.48.

One of the few markets to do better was Sydney, with a 1.2 per cent rise.

Those that underperformed Singapore's bourse included Tokyo, up just 0.07 per cent, Hong Kong which lost 0.33 per cent and Shanghai which fell 2.02 per cent.

Significantly the Singapore market has managed to rise since the US Federal Reserve said it was reducing its bond purchase programme, a decision which was made known before Asian markets opened on Thursday. In the two market sessions since, the STI has risen 32.7 points or 1.07 per cent.

The performance over the past two days helped the STI into the black for the week. Compared to last Friday the index is 28.46 points or 0.93 per cent higher.

Friday's STI gain was led by heavyweights SingTel, Keppel Corp, DBS Group Holdings, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank which together added 18.28 points to the STI, or three-quarters of the day's total gain.

But the increases were not restricted to a few stocks. By the end of the session, index gainers far outnumbered losers by 19 to six, with five counters closing flat.