Singapore Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 75 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,215-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Friday.

The global forecast suggests little movement ahead of the end of the year, although some profit taking is possible. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains across the board, especially among the financials, properties and industrials.

For the day, the index jumped 43.64 points or 1.38 percent to finish at 3,214.40 after trading between 3,183.35 and 3,230.65.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT added 0.67 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust increased 0.99 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.64 percent, City Developments advanced 1.07 percent, Comfort DelGro strengthened 1.45 percent, DBS Group soared 2.16 percent, Emperador added 0.94 percent, Genting Singapore improved 1.02 percent, Hongkong Land accelerated 2.05 percent, Keppel Corp was up 0.72 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust climbed 1.31 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.80 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust gained 0.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.10 percent, SATS perked 0.72 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 2.61 percent, SembCorp Industries spiked 2.14 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gathered 0.79 percent, SingTel rallied 1.65 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.95 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.86 percent, Yangzijiang Financial skyrocketed 3.17 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding picked up 0.68 percent and Keppel DC REIT and Venture Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 53.58 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 37,710.10, while the NASDAQ dipped 4.04 points or 0.03 percent to close at 15,095.14 and the S&P 500 rose 1.77 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,783.35.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales were unexpectedly unchanged in November.

While the data added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates, traders remained reluctant to make significant moves going into the end of the year.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on easing concerns about trade disruptions after several shipping companies resumed transit via the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $2.34 or 3 percent at $71.77 a barrel.