STI up on 'relief rally' after Fed move

THE US Federal Reserve did what was expected of it when it raised its short-term interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, prompting what some believe is a "relief rally" in stocks. The logic is that markets have agonised over when the first rate hike would occur and when it finally did arrive, there was a sense of relief that lifted prices.

Here, the Straits Times Index gained 20.26 points at 2,861.18 in response to the news in tandem with rises elsewhere in the region. It was the index's second successive…