Mild Rebound Tipped For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday ended the six-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 110 points or 3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,800-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and fairly flat on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the telecoms. industrials and trusts, while the banks were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 26.52 points or 0.69 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,796.16 after peaking at 3,816.17.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slid 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment stumbled 1.45 percent, City Developments eased 0.19 percent, Comfort DelGro tanked 2.00 percent, DBS Group retreated 1.31 percent, Emperador skidded 1.19 percent, Genting Singapore declined 1.27 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 0.85 percent, Keppel DC REIT slipped 0.45 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.73 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dipped 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.78 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.18 percent, SATS shed 0.79 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.47 percent, SembCorp Industries slumped 1.24 percent, SingTel plummeted 2.88 percent, Thai Beverage sank 0.88 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.97 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 1.89 percent and Singapore Technologies Engineering, Yangzijiang Financial, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Friday, although the Dow was unable to hold its gains and the markets ended mixed.

The Dow slumped 123.18 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,642.52, while the NASDAQ rallied 159.07 points or 0.81 percent to close at 19,859.77 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.16 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,090.27.

The Dow continued to clump amid a continued decline by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) after that company's CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down last week.

But the NASDAQ and the S&P continued to benefit from a positive reaction to Friday's closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged more than expected in November.

However, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October, increasing confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.

Oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by prospects of excess supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January shed $1.10 or 1.61 percent at $67.20 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell nearly 1 percent in the week.