Singapore Stock Market Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,225-point plateau and it's expected to hold steady in that neighborhood again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with bargain hunting likely to offset concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index added 2.41 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 3,224.08 after trading between 3,207.77 and 3,231.63. Volume was 1.14 billion shares worth 980.91 million Singapore dollars. There were 275 decliners and 227 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT added 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slumped 0.97 percent, CapitaLand Investment rallied 0.81 percent, City Developments jumped 0.98 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.71 percent, DBS Group fell 0.15 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 2.07 percent, Keppel Corp soared 1.93 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 0.40 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.17 percent, SATS lost 0.25 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 1.18 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering spiked 1.34 percent, SingTel advanced 0.38 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.55 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 2.67 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding declined 2.06 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Singapore Exchange and Genting Singapore were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but a late-day rally pushed the Down and S&P 500 into the green at the close.

The Dow added 145.99 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 31,656.42, while the NASDAQ slipped 31.08 points or 0.26 percent to end at 11,785.13 and the S&P 500 rose 11.85 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,966.85.

Bargain hunting contributed to the rebound on Wall Street, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages once again fell to their lowest levels in over a month.

The early selloff on Wall Street also came as the latest labor and manufacturing data was seen as confirming the Federal Reserve's stance that it can remain aggressive with the tightening of policy.

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming later today, the Labor Department this morning unexpectedly reported a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures ended sharply lower Thursday on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand and worries that aggressive rate hikes by major central banks may lead to a global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $2.94 or 3.3 percent at $86.61 a barrel.