'Risk-on' after Trump victory still in force

THE "risk-on" rally in equities inspired by Donald Trump's win in the Nov 8 US presidential election continued into its second week, helped along by firmer oil prices and expectations of a stronger US economy under Mr Trump.

The Straits Times Index over the five days gained 21 points or 0.7 per cent at 2,859.33, of which 15.61 points came on Friday, largely courtesy of rises in Singtel, DBS and OCBC. Turnover remained just above S$1 billion throughout the week; on Friday, 1.7 billion units worth S$1.2 billion were traded as the market recorded 241 rises versus 171 falls. Brokers estimate S$1 billion to be the daily breakeven level for the industry.

In the second and third lines, the arrest on Thursday of alleged key players behind the penny stock crash of Oct 2013 provided the main talking point. The main stocks involved back then, Asiasons, LionGold and Blumont, have already crashed to around S$0.001 to S$0.006, so with not much downside to exploit, punters swooped on connected counter ISR Capital as a proxy. It crashed 55 per cent on Thursday before trading was halted.