Rebound Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 30 points or 1 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 3,140-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on strength from technology shares and optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished barely lower on Tuesday following gains from the industrials, losses from the financials and a mixed bag from the properties.

For the day, the index dipped 0.34 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,139.98 after trading between 3,132.14 and 3,147.11.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT skidded 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand Investment climbed 0.67 percent, City Developments gathered 0.16 percent, DBS Group dropped 0.31 percent, Emperador spiked 0.96 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.52 percent, Hongkong Land declined 0.59 percent, Keppel Corp perked 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust retreated 0.66 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.41 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.08 percent, SATS gained 0.37 percent, Seatrium Limited jumped 0.89 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.26 percent, SingTel slumped 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage soared 1.00 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.56 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 1.38 percent and Comfort DelGro, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Wilmar International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street upbeat as the major averages opened modestly higher on Tuesday and continued to tick higher as the day progressed.

The Dow climbed 159.36 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 37,545.33, while the NASDAQ added 81.60 points or 0.54 percent to close at 15,074.57 and the S&P 500 rose 20.12 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,774.75.

A surge by shares of Intel (INTC) provided a boost to the markets following news the Israeli government will give the company a $3.2 billion grant toward the construction of a new $25 billion chip-making facility in southern Israel.

Stocks also continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates following last week's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.

On the heels of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 72.7 percent chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by a quarter point in March.

Oil prices surged higher Tuesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over trade disruptions following attacks on ships. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February jumped $2.01 or 2.7 percent at $75.57 a barrel.