Losses May Accelerate For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 55 points or 1.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just shy of the 4,015-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were closed for the July 4 holiday, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The STI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the properties and industrials were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index slipped 5.95 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 4,013.62 after trading between 4,004.92 and 4,024.33.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT dipped 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 0.90 percent, City Developments plunged 2.00 percent, Comfort DelGro and Genting Singapore both lost 0.69 percent, DBS Group added 0.58 percent, DFI Retail plummeted 2.37 percent, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust slid 0.58 percent, Hongkong Land retreated 1.25 percent, Keppel DC REIT dropped 0.86 percent, Keppel Ltd declined 1.04 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust stumbled 1.56 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.97 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.84 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.24 percent, SATS fell 0.65 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.70 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tanked 1.89 percent, United Overseas Bank rose 0.22 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial skyrocketed 5.92 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.34 percent and CapitaLand Investment, SingTel, Thai Beverage and Seatrium Limited were unchanged.

There is no lead from Wall Street, but the European stock markets were down amid concerns about U.S. tariffs.

With the July 9 deadline to strike deals with the U.S. just a few days away, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that his government will send letters to trading partners outlining unilateral tariffs that will take effect on August 1.

The EU, which is pushing for an agreement in principle ahead of July 9, has acknowledged that a comprehensive deal is unlikely to be reached by the deadline.

There is also concern over Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which will add at least $3.3 trillion to the country's already-mammoth national debt.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday on easing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.51 or 0.76 percent to finish at $66.49 per barrel.