Singapore Stock Market May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,200-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns that the outlook for interest rates may have been too optimistic. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dropped 30.51 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 3,199.44 after trading between 3,193.98 and 3,220.53.

Among the actives, Seatrium plummeted 4.17 percent, while DFI Retail plunged 2.99 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tanked 2.60 percent, Genting Singapore surrendered 1.98 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.97 percent, Emperador declined 1.90 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering retreated 1.80 percent, CapitaLand Investment stumbled 1.60 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slumped 1.54 percent, Hong Kong Land weakened 1.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust skidded 1.17 percent, DBS Group dropped 1.08 percent, Frasers Logistics advanced 0.88 percent, SingTel sank 0.82 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.77 percent, SATS lost 0.73 percent, Comfort DelGro fell 0.71 percent, Ascendas REIT slid 0.67 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.57 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust eased 0.49 percent, UOL Group rose 0.16 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Sembcorp Industries, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 284.85 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 37,430.19, while the NASDAQ dropped 173.73 points or 1.18 percent to close at 14,592.21 and the S&P 500 sank 38.02 points or 0.80 percent to end at 4,704.81.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected concerns investors have become too optimistic about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts.

Stocks saw some further downside as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting reiterated officials widely expect to begin lowering rates in 2024, but they also highlighted an "unusually elevated degree of uncertainty" about the outlook.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly slower rate in December. Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. edged down from an upwardly revised level in November.

The price of crude oil moved rebounded on Wednesday, regaining ground on concerns about further attacks by Houthi militants against ships in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery surged $2.32 or 3.3 percent to $72.70 a barrel.