Singapore shares close higher; STI at 17-month high above 3,100, pennies in play

EVEN though the Straits Times Index (STI) gained 59 points or 1.9 per cent over the course of this week to a 17-month high of 3,100.39, the real story has been the resurgence of penny punting and the stunning rise of Catalist, whose index gained 4.5 per cent this week and has risen 16 per cent for the year so far.

Unit volume has stayed above three billion every day this week - on Friday when the STI rose 20.43 points, turnover amounted to 3.3 billion units worth S$1.75 billion. It was the highest dollar value done since Nov 30, 2016.