STI inches up for second day running

'TIS the season for dashed hopes, it seems. A day ahead of Thursday's truncated trading session and Friday's public holiday, the local market put in a last-gasp effort to climb out of the ditch it has recently got stuck in but clearly found it difficult to escape the pull of gravity.

To its credit, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) managed to rise 0.4 per cent or 10.68 points to reach 2,863.65 points on Wednesday, extending its gains to make it a two-day streak. In percentage terms, its performance was also an improvement over Tuesday's mild 0.3 per cent advance.

But, as usual, the blue-chip index was still nowhere near 3,000 and looks on track to finish the year below this psychologically significant mark.