The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 120 points or 3.6 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,290-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the property stocks and industrials, while the financial shares were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 20.41 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 3,293.13 after trading between 3,282.60 and 3,308.12.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 2.60 percent, while CapitaLand Investment strengthened 1.53 percent, City Developments advanced 1.35 percent, Comfort DelGro picked up 0.67 percent, DBS Group sank 0.69 percent, Hongkong Land improved 1.32 percent, Keppel DC REIT added 1.18 percent, Keppel Ltd gained 1.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust accelerated 2.40 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust jumped 1.79 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 1.49 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.93 percent, SATS increased 1.22 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 3.61 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 1.12 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gathered 1.00 percent, SingTel and Venture Corporation were both up 0.84 percent, Wilmar International perked 0.87 percent, Yangzijiang Financial rallied 2.24 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 3.49 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed and flat and basically ended the same way.
The Dow shed 42.77 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 38,460.92, while the NASDAQ rose 16.11 points or 0.10 percent to close at 15,712.75 and the S&P 500 perked 1.08 points or 0.02 percent to end at 5,071.63.
A positive reaction to the latest corporate earnings news limited any downside on Wall Street, thanks to the likes of Tesla (TSLA), Texas Instruments (TXN), Visa (V) and Mattel (MAT).
Buying interest waned soon thereafter, however, with traders still worried about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will look for clues about the possibility of future rate cuts.
Oil prices dropped on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and on easing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.55 at $82.81 a barrel. – RTT News
