Feel-good sentiment boosts market

THERE was no other way for the stock market to go but up on Monday with Wall Street's record close last Friday (despite underwhelming US jobs data), flourishing risk appetite and rosy macro data signalling global economic resilience.

The market's key Straits Times Index (STI) rose 22.73 points or 0.7 per cent to 3,512.18, inching closer to 2015's high, ahead of key data to be released in the later part of the week, chiefly US inflation and monthly data from China.

The US released disappointing non-farm payrolls for December last Friday but that did not detract from the big picture of robust job market conditions including …