Swiss bank UBS had advice and optimism for investors on Wednesday: Stick to stocks paying high dividends and look forward to the Straits Times Index rebounding to around 3,000 points by year-end.

Mr Kelvin Tay, its chief investment officer for Southern Asia-Pacific, told a briefing that the prospect of a Greek government being formed following Sunday's elections should bolster regional equities.

'Our base case scenario calls for a (Greek) government to be formed, so we think there's a chance for the market to start trending back up to where it was prior to the sell-off, closer to the 3,000-point level,' he said.

The STI started the year at around 2,650 points, hitting a high of 3,026 in mid-March before euro-zone woes brought it down to about 2,700 last month