Singapore Stock Market May Open Under Water On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the seven-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 55 points or 1.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,290-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with technology shares expected to fall under pressure. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial shares and industrial issues were mitigated by support from the property sector. For the day, the index shed 12.27 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 4,290.40 after trading between 4,286.20 and 4,301.62. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust retreated 0.87 percent, while CapitaLand Investment skidded 0.74 percent, City Developments soared 2.35 percent, Comfort DelGro dropped 0.68 percent, DBS Group slipped 0.45 percent, DFI Retail Group stumbled 2.18 percent, Genting Singapore surrendered 1.32 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.56 percent, Keppel DC REIT declined 0.84 percent, Keppel Ltd was down 0.34 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust weakened 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.49 percent, SATS surged 2.73 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.23 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.66 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.35 percent, SingTel eased 0.23 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 1.09 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.61 percent, UOL Group spiked 2.21 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slumped 0.83 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding lost 0.60 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust and CapitaLand Ascendas REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but gradually turned lower and finished solidly in the red.

The Dow shed 171.50 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,121.28, while the NASDAQ lost 75.62 points or 0.33 percent to close at 22,497.86 and the S&P 500 sank 18.95 points or 0.28 percent to end at 6,637.97.

The extended pullback on Wall Street may have reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade following Tuesday's weakness.

AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) slid by 0.9 percent after tumbling by 2.8 percent on Tuesday, while fellow AI player Oracle (ORCL) slumped by 1.7 percent.

Concerns about valuations may also have continued to weigh on the markets after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggesting he believes stocks may be overvalued.

Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday due to the increasing likelihood of Russian oil exports facing heavy U.S. sanctions. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for November delivery was up $1.61 or 2.54 percent at $65.02 per barrel.