The Dow finished at a fresh record on Wednesday as Wall Street largely shrugged off unrest in Washington after angry supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol. The siege on the Capitol followed a defiant speech from Mr Trump, who lambasted "weak" Republicans who would not support his efforts to overturn his election defeat urged supporters to have a "wild" protest, vowed, "we will never give up."

Soon after those words, members of Mr Trump's crowd broke through glass doors to storm the capital, prompting authorities to mobilise the National Guard as congressional Democrats condemned the siege by flag-waving fanatics as a "coup" or insurrection.

Stocks retreated from session peaks amid the turmoil, but two of the three major indices still finished higher and the blue-chip index concluded at an all-time high.

Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities, said the market is looking past the chaos and ahead to the transition to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Wealth-management platform iFast Corporation announced that its assets under administration (AUA) hit a record S$14.45 billion as at Dec 31, 2020. This represents a year-on-year growth of 44.5 per cent from S$10 billion and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 14.8 per cent from S$12.59 billion, said the Singapore-headquartered firm in a bourse filing. Its AUA were up across all core markets in which it operates, with Singapore taking the lead - up 52.8 per cent year on year to S$10 billion as at Dec 31, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of overall group AUA.

French tyre maker Michelin said on Wednesday it would cut up to 2,300 jobs over three years as part of a new simplification and competitiveness plan in France, adding this would not involve layoffs nor plant closures. The job cuts equate to almost 2 per cent of its global workforce. The Covid-19 pandemic has hammered the auto industry, which was already struggling with the shift to electric vehicles from diesel and petrol cars.

Leader Environmental Technologies (LET) has asked that the trading of its shares resume on Thursday, after it responded to queries by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Wednesday evening. In a bourse filing, the group said it had just secured a 56.5 million yuan (S$11.5 million) design, supply and commissioning contract for the treatment and recycling of industrial wastewater at Shijiazhuang National Economic Development Zone in China's Hebei province at noon on Wednesday.

Amazon.com has earmarked US$2 billion to support affordable housing projects in three US regions, joining the ranks of other technology giants seeking to alleviate the economic strain fuelled in part by their rapid growth.

Impossible Foods will lower its international prices by double digits for distributors in Singapore, Canada, Hong Kong and Macau. The price cuts, which vary by location and take effect this month, apply to all Impossible foodservice products sold overseas, said the plant-based burger maker in a statement late on Wednesday. In the US, the group is also lowering prices by around 15 per cent on its open-coded foodservice products, marking its second domestic price cut since March last year.

Source: SGX Masnet, The Business Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR