Singapore Shares Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 100 points or 3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,230-point plateau, although it's doe for profit taking on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with technology and oil stocks likely to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials, properties and REITs were tempered by support from the industrials.

For the day, the index shed 10.32 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 3,229.95 after trading between 3,225.18 and 3,259.28.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT retreated 1.65 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.97 percent, CapitaLand Investment declined 1.27 percent, City Developments fell 0.60 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.71 percent, DBS Group eased 0.39 percent, Emperador sank 0.94 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 1.00 percent, Hongkong Land slid 0.57 percent, Keppel DC REIT slumped 1.03 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and UOL Group both tumbled 1.91 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dipped 0.40 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust surrendered 1.72 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.62 percent, Seatrium Limited jumped 1.69 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.56 percent, SingTel shed 0.81 percent, Thai Beverage soared 2.86 percent, Wilmar International skidded 1.12 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.36 percent and Keppel, SATS, Singapore Technologies Engineering and Yangzijiang Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averaged opened lower on Tuesday and only the Dow was able to peek barely into positive territory by the session's end.

The Dow rose 25.50 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 37,715.04, while the NASDAQ tumbled 245.41 points or 1.63 percent to end at 14,765.94 and the S&P 500 sank 27.00 points or 0.57 percent to close at 4,742.83.

The weakness in the broader markets came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength, particularly among technology stocks.

A steep drop by shares of Apple (AAPL) weighed on the tech sector, with the iPhone maker tumbling by 3.6 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month after Barclays downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Underweight from Equal Weight.

The price of crude oil couldn't hold early gains and showed a substantial downturn on Tuesday over escalating Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery surged nearly $2 to a high of $73.64 a barrel early in the session but pulled back sharply to close down $1.27 or 1.8 percent at $70.38 a barrel.