STI bounces up 4% in the week after Brexit

BAD economic news is good for stocks - this has been the defining mantra over the past eight years, thanks to generous central bank policies that have supported risk assets. That was the case again this week, as equities defied expert forecasts by bouncing up after Britain voted to leave the European Union in an event now etched in the collective memory as "Brexit".

Instead of the financial bloodbath that analysts thought would ensue, markets around the world rallied after only two days of selling.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index's 64-point loss over those two days was quickly recouped when the STI rose for the four subsequent sessions from Tuesday to Friday, gaining 117 points along the way, albeit with the aid of plenty of opportunistic half-year window-dressing and portfolio rebalancing.