Singapore Shares Tipped To Bounce Higher On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than a dozen points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,140-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with many believing that the heavy selling earlier this week was overdone. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday as the financial shares, property tocks and industrials ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index shed 9.95 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 3,143.06 after trading between 3,123.14 and 3,148.81.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tanked 2.74 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust declined 1.00 percent, CapitaLand Investment retreated 1.69 percent, City Developments plunged 3.27 percent, DBS Group fell 0.16 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.99 percent, Hongkong Land shed 0.32 percent, Keppel DC REIT skidded 0.59 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust surrendered 2.05 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.68 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tumbled 1.94 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.39 percent, SATS soared 2.55 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.35 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.27 percent, SingTel added 0.42 percent, UOL Group plummeted 3.99 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.30 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Emperador, Comfort DelGro, Seatrium Limited and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday and largely accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow rallied 369.54 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 38,519.84, while the NASDAQ jumped 197.63 points or 1.30 percent to end at 15,361.64 and the S&P 500 gained 60.54 points or 1.25 percent to close at 4,906.19.

The rebound on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels after Wednesday's selloff. The Federal Reserve signals that an interest rate cut in March is unlikely, but economists believe it is a matter of "when, not if" the central bank will eventually lower rates.

A continued decrease by treasury yields may also have contributed to the buying interest, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling to its lowest levels in over a month.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly saw a modest increase last week. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity increased in January but continues to indicate contraction.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday with traders following the negotiations of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, although a possible pick-up in energy demand helped limit the downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March sank $2.03 or 2.7 percent at $73.82 a barrel.