Renewed Consolidation Called For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,260-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and recession fears. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financials and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index added 16.06 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 3,262.57 after trading between ,235.31 and 3,270.82. Volume was 1.31 billion shares worth 1.09 billion Singapore dollars. There were 252 decliners and 206 gainers. Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tanked 1.01 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust declined 0.95 percent, CapitaLand Investment and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust both dropped 0.52 percent, City Developments fell 0.12 percent, DBS Group soared 2.34 percent, Genting Singapore gained 0.62 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.83 percent, Keppel Corp rallied 1.00 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust stumbled 0.74 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 0.56 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.25 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.31 percent, Singapore Exchange tumbled 1.00 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.26 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 0.76 percent, United Overseas Bank spiked 1.98 percent, Wilmar International plummeted 1.44 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 4.17 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 1.05 percent and Comfort DelGro, SingTel, SATS and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened sharply lower and remained deep in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 643.13 points or 1.91 percent to finish at 33,063.61, while the NASDAQ plunged 323.64 points or 2.55 percent to close at 12,381.57 and the S&P 500 sank 90.49 points or 2.14 percent to end at 4,137.99.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the weakness on Wall Street ahead of this week's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to sound a more hawkish tone in his comments.

Aggressive monetary tightening by central banks in Europe add to the nervous sentiment, as do concerns about a possible recession in major economies.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday on concerns about outlook for energy demand, while the dollar's strength also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $90.23 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release July numbers for consumer prices later today, with forecasts calling for an increase of 4.7 percent on year for overall inflation - up from 4.4 percent in June. Core CPI is expected to accelerate to an annual 6.9 percent from 6.7 percent in the previous month.