Singapore Stock Market May End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 50 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,160-point plateau although it's likely to find support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism ahead of earnings and anticipated bargain hunting after a couple days of heavy selling. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financial shares and industrial issues were tempered by support from the property sector.

For the day, the index lost 21.90 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 3,163.89 after trading between 3,157.63 and 3,179.39.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT fell 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slumped 1.10 percent, CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.96 percent, City Developments rose 0.45 percent, DBS Group skidded 0.98 percent, Emperador jumped 1.98 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.58 percent, Keppel Corp retreated 1.35 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.63 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.15 percent, SATS stumbled 1.16 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.59 percent, SembCorp Industries plunged 2.10 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.76 percent, Wilmar International tanked 1.96 percent, Yangzijiang Financial declined 1.39 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 3.07 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, SingTel, Thai Beverage, Comfort DelGro and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened sharply higher on Monday pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 314.25 points or 0.93 percent to finish at 33,984.54, while the NASDAQ rallied 160.75 points or 1.20 percent to end at 13,567.98 and the S&P 500 gained 45.85 points or 1.06 percent to close at 4,373.63.

The strength on Wall Street came as stocks rallied ahead of earnings updates from several top-ranked companies, shrugging off rising bond yields and concerns about the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Tesla, Netflix and Johnson & Johnson are among the companies scheduled to announce their quarterly results this week.

In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve released a report showing a downturn in regional manufacturing activity in the month of October.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, retreating after rising sharply in the previous session amid fears that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war might fuel a wider conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November shed $1.03 or 1.2 percent at $86.66 a barrel.