Singapore Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,270-point plateau and it's expected to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the release of encouraging U.S. inflation data and what it means for interest rates, although it may already have largely been priced in. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and industrials, while the properties were up and the trusts were mixed.

For the day, the index eased 3.73 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 3,267.78 after trading between 3,253.99 and 3,283.98.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was up 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rose 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment spiked 1.88 percent, City Developments gained 0.52 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 2.48 percent, DBS Group lost 0.40 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.01 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 1.68 percent, Keppel Corp slumped 1.24 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust added 0.57 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Singapore Technologies Engineering both climbed 0.89 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation skidded 0.95 percent, SATS surged 2.49 percent, SembCorp Industries declined 1.46 percent, SingTel advanced 0.89 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.69 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.56 percent, Wilmar International improved 0.49 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.41 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 2.46 percent and Emperador was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday and finally settled solidly in positive territory.

The Dow climbed 216.96 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 34,189.97, while the NASDAQ gained 69.43 points or 0.64 percent to close at 11,001.10 and the S&P 500 rose 13.56 points or 0.34 percent to end at 3,983.17.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street followed the release of highly anticipated consumer price inflation data, which largely was in line with forecasts.

The slower price growth eased concerns about the outlook for interest rates, although the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to raise rates by at least 25 basis points at its next meeting.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, gaining for a sixth straight session on a weaker dollar and data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February added $0.98 or 1.3 percent at $78.39 a barrel.