SINGAPORE – Local shares followed their regional peers on Friday to end a largely negative week on a positive note after modest overnight gains on Wall Street.

The sliver of optimism sent the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.3 per cent, or 9.89 points, to 3,245.97. But the gains were not enough to erase earlier losses and the market barometer was still down 0.4 per cent for the week.

Gainers outnumbered losers 308 to 207 after 1.3 billion shares worth $1 billion were traded.

Asian markets also broadly closed higher following Wall Street’s gains that snapped a series of downbeat sessions this week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent, the Nasdaq added 1.1 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 0.5 per cent. Key indexes in Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong and South Korea rose between 0.3 per cent and 2.3 per cent, as wary investors looked ahead to key inflation data and the United States Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates next week.

Australian shares broke a three-day losing streak to add 0.5 per cent, but they were still down 1.2 per cent for the week – the biggest weekly drop since late September.

“We are more confident about a downshift in rate hike magnitude to 50 basis points in December, but less certain of the terminal rate,” UOB Global Economics and Markets Research analysts noted. It added that the focus would be on the Fed’s guidance on the new indicative range for the terminal rate.

Sats led the STI winners, climbing 4.8 per cent to close at $3.03. It was also one of the top gainers for the week, rising 13.5 per cent from last Friday’s close.

Hong Kong-headquartered DFI Retail Group finished at the top of the index performance table for the week, gaining 15.4 per cent over the five trading days.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines, which was trading on an ex-dividend basis, fell 1.3 per cent to close at $5.49, the worst STI performer for the day.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the biggest decliner on the index for the week, falling 4.9 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES