The STI Index rose 28 points, or 0.5%, to 5,462 in Friday morning trade, advancing for the seventh consecutive session and hitting a fresh peak, tracking a rally on Wall Street overnight driven by renewed strength in chipmaker stocks. Retail, industrial services, utilities, technology, and financial stocks mainly drove the broader index. However, traders awaited the preliminary release of Singapore's Q2 GDP data, with the market expecting economic growth to ease to 5.3% after expanding 6.0% in the previous quarter, the strongest growth in 1-1/2 years. Investors also awaited the release of a slew of data from China, including Q2 GDP, industrial production, and June trade figures. Among the notable gainers were Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings (5.9%), Keppel (4.4%), City Developments (1.9%), Hongkong Land Holdings (1.8%), and Sembcorp (1.3%). For the week, the index is on track to gain 4.2%.