US President Donald Trump's comments in support of free trade helped shares in the United States end the week on a strong note.
Stocks on Wall Street surged to fresh highs as investors shrugged off weaker-than-expected gross domestic product growth in the US, while a softer dollar boosted commodity-exposed sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 223.92 points to 26,616.71, while the Nasdaq advanced 1.3 per cent to a record 7,505.77. The S&P 500 also reached an all-time high, gaining 1.2 per cent to 2,872.87.
Without a doubt, this has been one of the best Januarys in recent memory, and that bodes well for the market over the rest of the year, noted Bespoke Investment Group.
Some events worth watching for this week include Mr Trump's State of the Union address ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting, where no policy changes are expected, given that it is chairman Janet Yellen's last hurrah. Mr William White, head of the review board at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, said "all the market indicators right now look very similar to what we saw before the Lehman crisis, but the lesson has somehow been forgotten".
In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index is likely to range between 3,500 and 3,600 points this week after closing at 3,567.14 last Friday.
Starhill Global Reit and Ascendas India Trust will release earnings reports today, with OUE Hospitality Trust tomorrow, OUE Commercial Reit and CapitaLand Retail China Trust on Wednesday, Ascendas Hospitality Trust and AIMS AMP Capital Industrial Reit on Thursday, and SIA Engineering and Singapore Post on Friday.
A bid by Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng to take full control of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) in a deal valuing the business at £2 billion (S$3.7 billion) collapsed after minority shareholders blocked the acquisition.
Mr Kwek's City Developments, which is already M&C's majority investor, secured acceptances from only 47.14 per cent of the London-listed hotelier's minority investors. That fell short of the 50 per cent threshold needed for the bid to become unconditional and meant the offer lapsed. This sent M&C shares down 4.7 per cent to 546 pence.
Trading in ESR-Reit and Viva Industrial Trust remain halted amid talk that the Reits are in merger talks.
Something appears to be brewing at Hotel Grand Central as well. Its shares have inched up to $1.53 from $1.40 at the start of the year. Tan Chee Hoe & Sons has bought around 400,000 shares in the past two weeks, raising its stake to 53.21 per cent.
