Mild Upside Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 25 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,890-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly lower on Monday following weakness from the trusts and mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dipped 4.02 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,890.59 after trading between 3,871.54 and 3,905.94.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT tanked 1.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment declined 0.79 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.24 percent, Comfort DelGro skidded 0.70 percent, DBS Group collected 0.31 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 0.72 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 2.32 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.46 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.44 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust retreated 1.04 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 1.80 percent, SATS stumbled 1.29 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 2.44 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.60 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering eased 0.13 percent, SingTel dipped 0.26 percent, UOL Group rose 0.18 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.33 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages spent most of Monday in the red before a late rally nudged them over the unchanged line.

The Dow added 35.41 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 42,305.48, while the NASDAQ gained 128.85 points or 0.67 percent to close at 19,242.61 and the S&P 500 rose 24.25 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,935.94.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed trade concerns amid further signs of rising tensions between the U.S. and China.

China on Monday pushed back against President Donald Trump's claims that it had broken the Geneva trade agreement, accusing the U.S. of violating the deal with increased tech export restrictions and the revocation of Chinese student visas.

However, selling pressure waned following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly weakened in May. The report generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates amid signs of U.S. economic weakness due to Trump's trade war.

Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Monday, amid escalating geopolitical tensions and reports of more U.S. sanctions on Moscow. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.9 percent to $62.52 a barrel.