Singapore Shares May Open Slightly Higher On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 15 points or 0.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,150-point plateau and it may see mild upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher and will be dependent on earnings news. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index gained 18.08 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 3,153.33 after trading between 3,126.29 and 3,153.56.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT soared 2.41 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 1.01 percent, CapitaLand Investment spiked 2.08 percent, Comfort DelGro gathered 0.71 percent, DBS Group collected 0.09 percent, Emperador dropped 0.98 percent, Hongkong Land skyrocketed 2.90 percent, Keppel DC REIT surged 2.78 percent, Keppel Ltd was up 0.44 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 1.38 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.82 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust improved 1.24 percent, SATS and Venture Corporation both increased 1.09 percent, Seatrium Limited accelerated 1.92 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 1.51 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering picked up 0.52 percent, SingTel rallied 1.68 percent, Thai Beverage gained 0.97 percent, Wilmar International strengthened 1.54 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.56 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding perked 0.61 percent and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, City Developments and Genting Singapore were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow slipped into the red by the close.

The Dow dropped 99.06 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 37,806.39, while the NASDAQ gained 55.97 points or 0.36 percent to end at 15,481.92 and the S&P 500 perked 3.95 points or 0.08 percent to close at a fresh record high of 4,868.55.

Technology stocks helped lead the way higher in early trading on Wall Street, with shares of Netflix (NFLX) soaring by 10.7 percent after the streaming giant reported better than expected fourth quarter revenues.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, reflecting renewed interest rate concerns amid a rebound by treasury yields. Yields moved lower early in the session but bounced higher following some upbeat U.S. economic data and a disappointing five-year note auction.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on data showing a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories, while a weak dollar also contributed to the increase in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March added $0.72 or nearly 1 percent at $75.09 a barrel.