Singapore Bourse May Hand Back Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,920-point plateau although it may turn lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over U.S. tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished under water and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index added 13.14 points or 0.34 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,921.19 after trading as low as 3,893.52.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust sank 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment surged 4.80 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 1.44 percent, DBS Group fell 0.13 percent, DFI Retail Group stumbled 1.36 percent, Genting Singapore rose 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.08 percent, Keppel DC REIT shed 0.49 percent, Keppel Ltd jumped 1.18 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.85 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust gained 0.81 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 0.93 percent, SATS lost 0.32 percent, Seatrium Limited dropped 0.91 percent, SembCorp Industries spiked 2.55 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering soared 3.75 percent, SingTel collected 0.60 percent, UOL Group tanked 2.21 percent, Wilmar International improved 0.63 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 2.59 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 8.96 percent and City Developments, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Emperador and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is grim as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but faded into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow stumbled 193.62 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 43,239.50, while the NASDAQ plummeted 530 points or 2.78 percent to close at 18,544.42 and the S&P 500 dropped 94.49 points or 1.59 percent to end at 5,861.57.

Stocks initially benefited from earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected Q4 results and provided upbeat revenue guidance. But its shares subsequently tumbled by 8.5 percent as the AI darling and market leader also warned about increase global competition.

The sell-off on Wall Street also came as President Donald Trump said 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect on March 4. Trump said an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China will also be imposed, claiming without evidence that drugs are pouring into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada and that a large percentage of them are supplied by China.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week. Also, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders surged more than expected in January.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as the U.S. decision to revoke Chevron Corporation's license to operate in Venezuela raised supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $1.73 or 2.52 percent at $70.35 a barrel.