Singapore shares close higher - STI bounces back to pre-Brexit close

BREXIT? What Brexit? Financial markets appear to have regained all their composure after only two days of selling in the aftermath of the UK's vote to leave the European Union - the Straits Times Index on Wednesday rose 36.2 points to 2,792.73, bringing it back to almost exactly the same level it was on the eve of the UK's referendum.

Of course, short-covering and hefty doses of window-dressing probably also played a part since Wednesday marks the end of the first half and second quarter of 2016. This could explain the fact that despite the index's strength, the broad market could muster only 262 rises versus 135 falls, so gains were not widespread.

Whatever the case, rises in the three banks contributed a total of 14 points towards the index's rise, while there were also notable contributions for Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Thai Beverage and Singtel.

However, there is always the possibility that the market could have "bought in anticipation" on Wednesday, the eve of June 30, only to "sell on the day".

Noble Group has rarely strayed far from the top echelons of the actives list as so it was again the case on Wednesday when the counter slipped S$0.004 to S$0.176 on volume of 94.6 million, making it the day's most liquid stock. It was the second day of ex-rights trading, its theoretical ex-rights price being S$0.1625.