After a good year and bad year of Trump presidency, will 2019 turn ugly?

If 2017 was the Year of the Santa Claus, then 2018 ought to be remembered as the year in which the jolly gifter morphed into the Grinch, as far as equities are concerned. Major indices will end 2018 in the red, with some markets poised to record their biggest annual loss in a decade.

The contrast is just as stark for Singapore. For 2017, the benchmark Straits Times Index surged 18.1 per cent. For 2018, it is down 10.5 per cent.

Much of the swing from euphoria to despair can be laid at the door of US President Donald Trump. When Mr Trump unexpectedly won the presidency in November 2016, there were fears that his caprices would hurt markets. But, to the pleasant surprise of almost everyone, the first year of his presidency was benign for markets despite his penchant for upending long-established rules and norms governing global trade and foreign relations.