Singapore Stock Market Predicted To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last eight trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 80 points or 2.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,285-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of the FOMC rate decision later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, REITS and industrials, while the properties were mixed. For the day, the index added 21.02 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 3,286.16 after trading between 3,263.67 and 3,288.17.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was up 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust climbed 1.00 percent, CapitaLand Investment spiked 1.51 percent, City Developments soared 1.56 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.80 percent, DBS Group improved 0.96 percent, Emperador advanced 0.98 percent, Genting Singapore gathered 0.54 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.82 percent, Keppel Corp surged 2.53 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust increased 0.61 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust perked 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rose 0.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.55 percent, SATS jumped 1.12 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.54 percent, SingTel gained 0.76 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 1.33 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Thai Beverage, Wilmar International, Seatrium Limited, SembCorp Industries and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday but moved generally higher as the day progressed and ended in the green.

The Dow added 26.83 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 35,438.07, while the NASDAQ climbed 85.69 points or 0.61 percent to close at 14,144.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.82 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,567.46.

The higher close on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies such as 3M (MMM), chemical giant Dow Inc. (DOW) and General Electric (GE).

Traders also remain optimistic about the Federal Reserve wrapping up its recent series of interest rate hikes ahead of today's monetary policy decision. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, but traders are hopeful the rate hike will be the last following recent encouraging inflation data.

In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board released a report showing U.S. consumer confidence improved more than expected in July.

Crude oil futures settled notably higher Tuesday on optimism about increased Chinese demand after policymakers pledged support to shore up growth in the world's second largest economy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September gained $0.89 or 1.1 percent at $79.63 a barrel, the highest settlement since mid-April.

Closer to home, Singapore will see June numbers for industrial production later today, with expectations for an increase of 3.8 percent on month and a fall of 6.8 percent on year. That follows declines of 3.9 percent on month and 10.8 percent on year in May.