STI edges up 0.75% as vote count reveals tight US election race

HOPES of a decisive outcome to the US elections melted away during the Asian trading session, raising concerns that a much needed stimulus programme will not be quickly passed on Capitol Hill.

Stéphane Monier, chief investment officer at Swiss private bank Lombard Odier, said in a statement just before the end of trading in Singapore: "For now, it very much looks that whoever wins the White House, we face a divided Congress. This has far-reaching implications for markets, mostly because it means that any kind of pandemic recovery package is still tough to approve."

Investors in Singapore were hardly in full retreat though.