Continued Support Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 25 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,315-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with strength likely from the technology shares. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets are tipped to open to the upside.

The STI finished barely higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index perked 0.57 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 3,314.05 after trading between 3,306.32 and 3,318.24. Among the actives, Ascendas REIT and SembCorp Industries both lost 0.38 percent, while CapitaLand Investment soared 2.26 percent, City Developments eased 0.17 percent, Comfort DelGro stumbled 072 percent, DBS Group collected 0.28 percent, Emperador retreated 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 1.11 percent, Hongkong Land surged 2.34 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.56 percent, Keppel Ltd slumped 0.59 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rallied 0.80 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 0.45 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.21 percent, SATS advanced 0.39 percent, Seatrium Limited skyrocketed 1,900.00 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tumbled 1.89 percent, SingTel fell 0.41 percent, Wilmar International declined 0.95 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dropped 0.57 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Thai Beverage, Yangzijiang Financial and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and closed in the same fashion.

The Dow stumbled 196.82 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 39,806.77, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.91 points or 0.65 percent to close at a record high 16,794.88 and the S&P 500 rose 4.86 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,308.13.

The advance by the NASDAQ reflected strength in the tech sector, with semiconductor stocks leading the way as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped by 2.2 percent to a two-month closing high.

Gold stocks also saw notable strength on the day, as the price of the precious metal reached a new record high, while banking stocks and telecom stocks moved to the downside.

The Dow was hit by profit taking after the index closed above 40,000 points for the first time on Friday.

Oil prices settled lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for a longer time. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped to around $79.80, down $0.26 from the previous close.