STI up, despite weak Q2 GDP estimates

SINGAPORE'S benchmark index managed to stave off Friday's disappointing advanced estimates for the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) to close out higher.

The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3,357.34, up 6.89 points or 0.2 per cent.

On the week, the benchmark index is down 9.47 points or 0.3 per cent from last Friday's close of 3,366.81.

Geoff Howie, the Singapore Exchange's market strategist, noted that "the GDP estimate was expected by economists to be weighed by the outward-orientated manuf…