Rebound Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping more than 30 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,825-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns of a trade war. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the properties and industrials, while the financial shares were mixed.

For the day, the index dipped 3.46 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 3,817.58 and 3,858.17

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.65 percent, while City Developments lost 0.60 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.71 percent, DBS Group collected 0.25 percent, DFI Retail Group rallied 2.19 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.67 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.92 percent, Keppel DC REIT plunged 1.83 percent, Keppel Ltd retreated 1.63 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 0.95 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.83 percent, SATS stumbled 1.79 percent, Seatrium Limited fell 0.46 percent, SembCorp Industries tanked 1.82 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 1.03 percent, SingTel rose 0.31 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 0.93 percent, Venture Corporation plummeted 3.23 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.63 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.06 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 0.66 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Emperador, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the session to finish solidly in the green and at session highs.

The Dow climbed 134.13 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 44,556.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 262.06 points or 1.35 percent to close at 19,654.02 and the S&P 500 gained 43.31 points or 0.72 percent to end at 6,037.88.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected easing concerns about a global trade war after President Donald Trump agreed to pause 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for a month.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing job openings in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in December.

The data led to some optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as Trump agreed to postpone levies on Canada and Mexico's exports to the United States. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $72.70 a barrel, down $0.46 or about $0.63 percent.

Closer to home, Singapore will release December numbers for retail sales later today; in November, sales were down 2.8 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year.