STI extends rally on hopes of Clinton win

THE US presidential election continued to be the main - and possibly only - factor in local stockmarket trading on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) climbing 19.29 points or 0.7 per cent to 2,820.24 on early indications that the more market-acceptable candidate Hillary Clinton was the early leader.

Turnover amounted to 1.7 billion units worth S$1.1 billion, the fourth consecutive day that dollar value was above the broking industry's estimated breakeven point of S$1 billion. Before that it had fallen below S$1 billion for 12 straight days. Excluding warrants, there were 222 rises versus 177 falls.

Wall Street stocks on Monday shot up sharply after weekend news that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, having reopened its investigation into Mrs Clinton's email use, had announced it has found no criminal wrongdoing.