Singapore Shares May Take Further Damage On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Wednesday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 20 points or 0.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,180-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on nervousness over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials ad properties, while the industrials came in mixed.

For the day, the index lost 10.53 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 3,179.58 after trading between 3,173.74 and 3,195.22.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment skidded 0.90 percent, City Developments added 0.44 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 0.97 percent, DBS Group dropped 0.87 percent, Emperador retreated 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 1.54 percent, Hongkong Land dipped 0.23 percent, Keppel Corp slid 0.32 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust jumped 1.21 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.60 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.16 percent, SATS fell 0.40 percent, SembCorp Industries declined 1.12 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.55 percent, SingTel sank 0.81 percent, United Overseas Bank rose 0.04 percent, Wilmar International was down 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial stumbled 1.47 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.40 percent and Ascendas REIT, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday; the Dow kept bouncing up and down but finished in the green, while the NASDAQ and S&P quickly headed south and remained in the red.

The Dow added 94.93 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 33,668.21, while the NASDAQ dropped 168.22 points or 1.27 percent to end at 13,108.19 and the S&P 500 sank 15.82 points or 0.37 percent to close at 4,268.03.

The sharp pullback by the NASDAQ came after the Bank of Canada once again raised interest rates after leaving rates unchanged for two straight meetings, raising the concerns about the outlook for U.S. rates.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision next Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit widened significantly in April as the value of exports plummeted.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday as Saudi Arabia's recent decision to cut crude output outweighed concerns about demand, while data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.79 or 1.1 percent at $72.53 a barrel.