Just noticed something interesting about the Singapore market - the STI had a rough three-day run where it tanked nearly 80 points or around 1.7 percent before finally catching a breather on Friday. Now it's hovering just below that critical 5000 level, though honestly it feels like the pressure is still there.

The index managed to close slightly higher, up 30.69 points or 0.62 percent to 4,995.07, but it was pretty mixed action underneath. Financial stocks and property plays were doing some heavy lifting while trusts dragged things down. You had some real movers - Yangzijiang Shipbuilding absolutely flew up 10.71 percent, UOL Group surged 5.62 percent, and Seatrium Limited soared 5.26 percent. But on the flip side, Venture Corporation got hammered down 7.51 percent.

The bigger picture though is that we're dealing with some serious global headwinds right now. The escalating tensions between the U.S., Israel and Iran are weighing heavily on sentiment. Wall Street had a rough day - the Dow dropped 521 points or 1.05 percent, NASDAQ fell 210 points or 0.92 percent, and the S&P 500 lost about 30 points or 0.43 percent. For the week, the Dow was down 1.3 percent, NASDAQ off 1.0 percent.

What's adding to the anxiety is the Labor Department report showing producer prices jumped 0.5 percent in January, beating expectations of 0.3 percent. That's stirring up stagflation concerns. Then you've got companies like Block announcing they're cutting workforce by nearly half, which is amplifying fears about AI-related disruptions.

Oil prices spiked hard too - West Texas Intermediate crude for April shot up $1.71 or 2.6 percent to $66.92 a barrel, and with the military situation escalating, we could see even sharper moves.

Bottom line: Asian markets are likely to open weak on Monday, and that 5000 level on the STI is going to be tested again. The global backdrop just isn't supportive right now.