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THE market shrugged off Wednesday's blip and charged back with a vengeance yesterday to finish at yet another high for this year.
The spark for the robust rebound - which saw the Straits Times Index (STI) rising 31.54 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 2,682.02 - came from the impetus of Wall Street's four-day winning streak.
Yesterday's rise, the biggest since Aug 24 and the seventh positive finish in eight trading days, mirrored gains in other Asian bourses.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.05 per cent, Tokyo's Nikkei Average rose 1.95 per cent while Taiwan's Taiex Index was up 1.12 per cent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose to its highest level since Sept 10 last year, prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Only mainland China bourses bucked the uptrend.
Sentiment was bullish right from the start here with the STI surging to as high as 2,707.24 in early afternoon trading before a plunge brought it to as low as 2,676, but this was then followed by an uptick.
Market participation was healthy with 2.71 billion shares worth $2.35 billion changing hands.
Genting Singapore was at the centre of much attention with plans to raise $1.63 billion, the second-largest rights issue this year. This did not sit well with some investors, who dumped the stock at the opening bell and sent it to as low as $1.08.
The stock, the most actively traded with 395.81 million shares changing hands, closed five cents or 4.2 per cent lower at $1.14, marking its sharpest fall since June 18.
'We think the market may be too optimistic on Singapore gaming demand and the competitive outlook,' said Goldman Sachs in a note, which has a 'sell' call on the stock and a target price of 65 cents.
Shares of DMX Tech jumped 15 cents, or a whopping 46 per cent, to 47.5 cents, its highest close since May 2006. About 65.9 million shares changed hands.
The firm said it plans to raise $183.1 million via a share placement. It will issue 588.8 million shares to Japanese mobile phone giant KDDI Corp at 32 cents apiece, giving KDDI a 50.1 per cent stake.
Mary Chia lost one cent to 25 cents after reporting an 83 per cent tumble in first-half net profit to $119,000.
This was down from $699,000, due to higher directors' remuneration and operating expenses.
Oceanus added one cent to 37 cents on a trading volume of 116.5 million shares after Westcomb Research upgraded its target price for the stock to 53 cents from 44 cents.
Jardine Matheson led the charge among the blue chips, adding US$1.92, or 6.7 per cent, to US$30.54.
Noble Group jumped seven cents to $2.31, its highest close since June last year, on optimism that demand for commodities will remain strong.
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