ST Index's rebound moves into 2nd day

THE Straits Times Index's recovery from its recent battering extended into a second consecutive day on Thursday with a 16.42-point rise to 3,243.65 that brought its two-day gain to 28 points, after it had plunged 110 points on Monday and Tuesday.

As was the case on Wednesday, the rise was in anticipation of a strong session ahead for Wall Street, fuelled by a large bounce in European markets when they opened in the late afternoon. The Hang Seng Index, in the meantime, closed 1.1 per cent higher while the Nikkei index gained 2.3 per cent.

The US market, which itself had come under pressure for several days because of a collapse in oil prices, on Wednesday shot up after the US Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) said it can be "patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy", which markets took to mean the Fed will take its time when it comes to interest rate hikes.