US fiscal stimulus hopes jazz up key stock markets, lifting STI by 0.19% to 2,543.11

UNITED States has yet to pass a fresh round of fiscal stimulus, but the hope for government aid has already stimulated key stock markets, including Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI).

The STI ended Thursday 4.75 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 2,543.11 points, barely changed from the 0.2 per cent gain at the opening bell.

Thai Beverage Public Company was the best performer and the most active among the index. The counter gained 1.71 per cent for the day to close at S$0.595, on a trading volume of 24.29 million shares. The counter was also the most heavily-traded stock on Wednesday.

At the bottom of the STI's performance table were two Jardine companies, Jardine Matheson Holdings and Dairy Farm International Holdings. Jardine Matheson lost 1.18 per cent to close at US$43.52; Dairy Farm dropped 0.76 per cent to US$3.94.

Advancers beat decliners 222 to 156 for the day, with 975 million securities worth S$804.6 million traded.

Most Asian markets were buoyed by the overnight Wall Street rally following US President Donald Trump's call for some pandemic relief measures.

Pan Jingyi, IG market analyst, said: "Fresh optimism on the US fiscal stimulus front returned to carry markets higher on Wednesday - never mind that the potential tranche of fiscal support, including aid for airlines and other targeted support measures, would be a fraction of the wider package. Alongside the accommodative tone held in the September Federal Reserve FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes, this altogether provided crutches for the market into Wednesday."

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index led the regional rally with a 2.01 per cent gain and closed at 1,519.43.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 1.09 per cent at 6,102.04, and the Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.96 per cent to 23,647.07, approaching levels reached in February. South Korea's Kospi index gained 0.21 per cent to clock a rally for the seventh straight session as it ended at 2,391.96 points.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was one of the rare few left out of the party. Its benchmark index slid 0.2 per cent to 24,193.35.

Mainland China ended its week-long Golden Week holiday on Thursday.