Singapore Stock Market May See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 30 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,320-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on better-than-expected inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the REITs and a mixed performance from the financials and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 9.14 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 3,322.93 after trading between 3,301.10 and 3,324.33.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT improved 0.72 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust climbed 1.03 percent, CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.92 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.83 percent, DBS Group fell 0.20 percent, Emperador skidded 0.96 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.70 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust jumped 1.20 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.68 percent, SATS shed 0.37 percent, Seatrium Limited advanced 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries slumped 1.18 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.54 percent, SingTel rose 0.41 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.26 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.37 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 1.19 percent and Genting Singapore, Hongkong Land, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Thai Beverage, Comfort DelGro and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed, ending just barely in the green.

The Dow added 52.79 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 35,176.15, while the NASDAQ gained 15.97 points or 0.12 percent to close at 13,737.99 and the S&P 500 perked 1.12 points or 0.03 percent to end at 4,468.83.

The early rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing the annual rate of consumer price inflation accelerated less than expected in July.

While the data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged next month, economists suggested sticky core inflation could leave the door open for the Fed to resume raising rates in November.

Oil prices fell from multi-month highs Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for oil demand from China after imports plummeted. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.58 at $$82.82 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release Q2 data for gross domestic product. GDP is expected to rise 0.3 percent on quarter and 0.7 percent on year after slipping 0.4 percent on quarter and gaining 0.4 percent on year in the previous quarter.