Greek bailout news lifts Singapore market

NEWS that the Greek parliament has voted to accept the bailout terms from the country's creditors helped lift the Straits Times Index 14.59 points to 3,353.45 on Thursday. Turnover, however, remained in the doldrums at 1.1 billion units worth S$918.6 million, of which S$621 million or 68 per cent was done in the 30 STI components. Still, excluding warrants, there were 235 rises versus 145 falls, so the session was relatively firm for the whole market.

Counterbalancing the news from Greece was high volatility in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index first suffered a triple-digit loss before closing with a triple-digit gain.

Also a factor was the Wednesday testimony by US Federal Reserve chairman Janey Yellen that the US economy remains strong, suggesting that interest rates would be raised this year.