Rebound Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 20 points or 0.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 4,300-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on growing optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index slipped 10.95 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 4,297.57 after trading between 4,287.52 and 4,315.49.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both slipped 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.44 percent, City Developments shed 0.59 percent, Comfort DelGro stumbled 2.01 percent, DBS Group perked 0.06 percent, Genting Singapore tanked 1.31 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 1.27 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Seatrium Limited both fell 0.43 percent, Keppel Ltd lost 0.46 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust improved 0.71 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.80 percent, SATS dipped 0.30 percent, SembCorp Industries tumbled 1.30 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering eased 0.13 percent, SingTel slumped 1.15 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 1.05 percent, United Overseas Bank slid 0.22 percent, UOL Group surged 2.17 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.68 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.83 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.63 percent and CapitaLand Investment and DFI Retail Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Tuesday and trended generally higher to finish at record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 196.39 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 45,711.34, while the NASDAQ improved 80.79 points or 0.37 percent to close at 21,193.11 and the S&P 500 gained 17.46 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,512.61.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of closely watched inflation data in the coming days. The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer price inflation and consumer price inflation today and tomorrow, respectively.

While last Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs data increased confidence that the Fed will cut interest rates at its meeting next week, the inflation data could influence how aggressively the central bank lowers rates.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said non-farm employment for the 12 months through March 2025 was downwardly revised by 911,000 jobs, also fueling optimism for a rate cut.

Crude oil advanced on Tuesday, extending gains for the second day amid increasing expectations of western sanctions against Russia, while the Israeli attack on Qatar added support to oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.29 or 0.47 percent at $62.55 per barrel.