Singapore Dollar Slides To 5-day Low Against U.S. Dollar

The Singapore dollar weakened against the U.S. dollar in the Asian session on Wednesday.

The Singapore dollar weakened against the U.S. dollar in the late Asian session on Wednesday.

The Singapore dollar weakened against the U.S. dollar in the late Asian session on Thursday.

The Singapore dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar in the early Asian session on Friday, after data showed that Singapore's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to an eight-year low in the first quarter of 2023.

The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 400 points or 5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index sits just above the 8,040-point plateau and it figures to hold steady in that neighborhood again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The JCI finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the financial shares and telecoms were mitigated by support from the resource and cement companies. For the day, the index dipped 11.08 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 8,040.04 after trading between 8,005.35 and 8,087.93. Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.29 percent, while Bank Mandiri advanced 0.91 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.85 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.41 percent, Bank Central Asia and Astra Agro Lestari both dropped 0.96 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tanked 2.12 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison retreated 1.59 percent, Indocement improved 0.72 percent, Semen Indonesia strengthened 1.39 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 0.32 percent, Astra International shed 0.44 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 7.14 percent, Aneka Tambang rallied 3.77 percent, Vale Indonesia soared 3.71 percent, Timah spiked 5.00 percent, Bumi Resources skyrocketed 6.14 percent and United Tractors was unchanged.

The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 360 points or 1.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,350-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the technology shares were mixed. For the day, the index sank 200.96 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 26,344.14 after trading between 26,204.01 and 26,479.14. Among the actives, Alibaba Group perked 0.06 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slipped 1.14 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 2.22 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 3.05 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 1.31 percent, China Resources Land retreated 2.41 percent, CITIC plummeted 4.72 percent, CNOOC fell 1.24 percent, Galaxy Entertainment was down 1.18 percent, Haier Smart Home tanked 2.52 percent, Hang Lung Properties shed 1.35 percent, Henderson Land skidded 1.77 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.60 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 2.38 percent, JD.com stumbled 3.31 percent, Lenovo jumped 1.50 percent, Li Auto dipped 1.14 percent, Li Ning added 0.45 percent, Meituan contracted 2.26 percent, New World Development advanced 0.72 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 1.38 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 4.03 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slid 1.06 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 6.09 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical was unchanged.

The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,800 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology shares.

The China stock market on Monday snapped the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 55 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,830-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The SCI finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the broader market were capped by weakness from the financials and resource stocks. For the day, the index gained 8.49 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 3,828.58 after trading between 3,806.20 and 3,831.74. The Shenzhen Composite Index improved 13.80 points or 0.56 percent to end at 2,486.42. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was down 0.28 percent, while Bank of China contracted 1.51 percent, Agricultural Bank of China plunged 2.41 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.20 percent, Bank of Communications stumbled 2.01 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.02 percent, Jiangxi Copper declined 1.21 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.65 percent, Yankuang Energy slumped 0.96 percent, PetroChina shed 0.61 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.75 percent, Huaneng Power tumbled 1.90 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.23 percent, Gemdale dropped 0.95 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.39 percent and China Vanke rose 0.29 percent.