Singapore shares are expected to move within a narrow range as trading slows down due to the approaching Christmas holidays, dealers said. "I think the STI will continue to trade around the 2,800 benchmark up until Christmas," said an analyst at a local investment house, referring to the main Straits Times Index.
However, the analyst added that the index might surge in the last week of 2009. "We may see a year-end rally post-Christmas as fund managers touch up their portfolios for the year close," he said.
Head of retail research at AmFraser Securities Najeeb Jarhom was also optimistic that the STI would head up in the days running up to 2010. "We could see one final push. I'm quite confident that the market will set a new high closer to 2,900 for this year," he said.
The blue chip STI closed at 2,802.59 on Friday, up 1.84 points or 0.07 percent from the week before. Average daily volume was 1.28 billion shares worth 1.20 billion Singapore dollars (860 million US) compared with 1.6 billion shares worth 1.41 billion dollars last week.