Singapore Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 115 points or 3.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,175-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the health of the financial sector. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and industrials, while the properties came in mixed.

For the day, the index climbed 34.17 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 3,173.93 after trading between 3,157.81 and 3,186.69.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was up 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Investment rallied 1.72 percent, City Developments climbed 0.98 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.86 percent, DBS Group surged 2.14 percent, Emperador dropped 0.97 percent, Genting Singapore soared 1.90 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.24 percent, Keppel Corp advanced 0.95 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.99 percent, SATS rose 0.41 percent, SembCorp Industries and Singapore Technologies Engineering both spiked 1.75 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.67 percent, Wilmar International perked 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding gained 0.85 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Yangzijiang Financial, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, SingTel, Thai Beverage and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 316.02 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 32,560.60, while the NASDAQ spiked 184.57 points or 1.58 percent to end at 11,860.11 and the S&P 500 climbed 51.30 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,002.87.

The extended rally on Wall Street partly reflected easing concerns about turmoil in the financial sector following recent steps taken to rescue distressed banks in the U.S. and Europe.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to remarks by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said the government is prepared to once again take action to protect bank depositors if smaller lenders are threatened.

Traders also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later today. While the recent banking turmoil led to some speculation the Fed may leave interest rates unchanged, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 86.4 percent chance of a 25-basis point rate hike.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Tuesday, gaining for a second straight session amid improving risk sentiment thanks to the coordinated efforts by major central banks to rescue troubled U.S. and European lenders. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.69 or 2.5 percent at $69.33 a barrel.