Singapore Bourse Due For Consolidation On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in six straight sessions, improving more than 90 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 4,110-point plateau although it's expected to see profit taking on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity as traders figure to wait and see what transpires over trade and tariff talks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, REITs, property stocks and industrial issues. For the day, the index gained 21.40 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 4,109.21 after trading between 4,090.98 and 4,109.21. Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT rallied 1.11 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gathered 0.45 percent, CapitaLand Investment improved 0.74 percent, City Developments soared 2.76 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.70 percent, DBS Group and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both gained 0.65 percent, DFI Retail Group skyrocketed 3.47 percent, Hongkong Land perked 0.16 percent, Keppel DC REIT strengthened 0.91 percent, Keppel Ltd jumped 1.03 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.81 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.50 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.86 percent, SembCorp Industries accelerated 1.49 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering increased 0.62 percent, SingTel slumped 0.74 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.05 percent, UOL Group surged 2.86 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 1.71 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.86 percent and SATS, Seatrium Limited, Genting Singapore and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and gradually ticked up into positive territory, finishing with mild gains.

The Dow added 88.14 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 44,459.65, while the NASDAQ gained 54.80 points or 0.27 percent to close at 20,640.33 and the S&P 500 rose 8.81 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,268.56.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed President Donald Trump's threats to impose 30 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union and Mexico beginning Aug. 1. The EU responded that it will suspend the implementation of its trade countermeasures against the U.S. until early August to allow more time for a negotiated settlement.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days, including reports on consumer and producer prices, retail sales and industrial production.

Earnings season also picks up steam this week, with Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Johnson & Jonson (JNJ) and Netflix (NFLX) among the big name companies due to report their quarterly results.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday on continuing concerns over OPEC's decision to increase output again next month. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dropped $1.24 or 1.85 percent to $65.79 per barrel.