Singapore Shares Likely Rangebound Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 80 points or 2.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,255-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished barely lower on Tuesday as losses from the properties and REITs were offset by gains from the industrials and financials.

For the day, the index eased 0.17 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,254.26 after trading between 3,245.12 and 3,258.86.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT dropped 0.71 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment fell 0.29 percent, City Developments shed 0.57 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.82 percent, DBS Group rose 0.18 percent, Emperador declined 0.98 percent, Genting Singapore gained 0.53 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 2.09 percent, Keppel Corp was up 0.15 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust retreated 1.16 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.16 percent, Seatrium Limited jumped 1.42 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 2.60 percent, SingTel sank 0.78 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 0.87 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.32 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 1.49 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.67 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Singapore Technologies Engineering, SATS, Frasers Logistics and Jardine Cycle & Carriage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but took off shortly thereafter, ending near session highs.

The Dow spiked 366.58 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 34,951.93, while the NASDAQ advanced 108.69 points or 0.76 percent to end at 14,353.64 and the S&P 500 gained 32.19 points or 0.71 percent to close at 4,554.98.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of earnings news from financial giants like Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS), Bank of New York Mellon (BK) and PNC Financial Services (PNC), which all beat the street.

Traders also reacted positively to the release of separate reports showing a smaller than expected increase in retail sales and an unexpected decrease in industrial production.

While the reports led to some concerns about the strength of the economy, the data has added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve nearing the end of its interest rate hiking cycle.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday for the first time in three days as the dollar slipped after soft data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.60 or 2.2 percent at $75.75 a barrel.