The local equity market's benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ended this year's bull run with its biggest annual price gain since 2012.

It put on 18.13 per cent over the 12 months to Dec 31, 2017.

Plenty of pep was to be found on the domestic front, with the Singapore bourse a popular destination for all manner of companies looking to make their public debut - from seafood restaurants to preschools.

And index constituents were never far from the fray, whether it was the privatisation of Global Logistic Properties or the corrupt payment scandal that shook Keppel Offshore & Marine in the last days of 2017.

Rising in tandem with other global indices, the STI also weathered no ened of geopolitical storms - not least a return to the nuclear apocalypse fears of the Cold War era - to reflect an economic recovery that observers hope will carry through into this year.

BY ANNABETH LEOW