Singapore Shares May Inch Higher Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market ticked higher again on Wednesday, one day after halting the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,220-point plateau and it may continue to see mild upside on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but said more rate hikes were likely before the end of the year. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials and industrials, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 28.74 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 3,218.14 after trading between 3,194.75 and 3,222.29.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT added 1.14 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust accelerated 2.07 percent, CapitaLand Investment spiked 2.75 percent, City Developments advanced 1.31 percent, Comfort DelGro surged 2.78 percent, DBS Group rose 0.84 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.52 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.44 percent, Keppel Corp soared 2.76 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust was up 0.61 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rallied 2.29 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 1.84 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up 0.65 percent, SATS jumped 1.98 percent, SembCorp Industries improved 1.78 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gathered 0.82 percent, SingTel increased 1.22 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.74 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.25 percent, Wilmar International gained 1.01 percent, Yangzijiang Financial climbed 1.49 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding perked 0.79 percent and Emperador was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed, tumbled after the Fed's policy statement but then rebounded to finish on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 232.79 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 33,979.33, while the NASDAQ added 53.16 points or 0.39 percent to close at 13,626.48 and the S&P 500 rose 3.58 points or 0.08 percent to end at 4,372.59.

The late-day volatility came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to pause its interest rate increases following 10 consecutive rate hikes but also forecast additional increases later this year.

However, the central bank's latest projections suggest the Fed plans to resume raising rates later this year, forecasting a rate of 5.6 percent by the end of 2023.

The forecast for additional rate hikes this year comes as the Fed raised its forecast for annual core consumer price growth to 3.9 percent from 3.6 percent.

Crude oil prices pared early gains and drifted lower Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a stronger greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $1.15 or 1.7 percent at $68.27 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see jobless data for the first quarter of 2023 later today, with forecasts suggesting an unemployment rate of 1.8 percent - down from 2.0 percent in the three months prior.