SGX

SGX: +0.2% at $8.43, after initially opening lower, with interest picking up - over half of yesterday's full-day volume reached in the opening 15m. News that Australia's competition regulator said it wouldn't oppose the exchange's A$8.4b bid for ASX is likely help the stock snap its 5-session losing streak; but the gain is modest, reflecting the weak overall market tone and long road ahead for deal to come to fruition….

Analysts note that there's still all the political issues facing the deal, which could mean it still gets tied up for a while, noting that the Australian opposition are quite vocal and some of them seem to be using this as a platform to put on a show and basically raise their own profiles, so that will probably be the biggest stumbling block. The December high at $8.78 is likely to provide resistance near term.