Singapore Bourse May Challenge Resistance At 3,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,380-point plateau although it's likely to reclaim what it lost on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on increasing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were solidly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the properties, support from the financials and a mixed picture from the industrials.

For the day, the index eased 5.09 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 3,380.84 after trading between 3,374.62 and 3,397.32.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tanked 1.69 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.47 percent, CapitaLand Investment fell 0.25 percent, DBS Group added 0.42 percent, Hongkong Land declined 1.02 percent, Keppel Corp retreated 0.97 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plummeted 2.19 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.84 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.15 percent, SATS gained 0.32 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 2.22 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tumbled 1.07 percent, SingTel sank 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.66 percent, Wilmar International plunged 1.74 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 0.78 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Emperador, Genting Singapore, Yangzijiang Financial, City Developments, Comfort DelGro, Thai Beverage and DFI Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages shook off flat morning trade on Tuesday, rallying in the afternoon.

The Dow jumped265.67 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 34,156.69, while the NASDAQ surged 226.34 points or 1.90 percent to end at 12,113.79 and the S&P 500 advanced 52.92 points or 1.29 percent to close at 4,164.00.

The late rally on Wall Street came in reaction to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks at the Economic Club of Washington. In a Q&A session, Powell said he expects 2023 to be a year of "significant declines in inflation."

Powell said inflation is beginning to ease, though he expects it to be a long process and cautioned that interest rates could rise more than markets expect if the economic data doesn't cooperate.

Oil prices advanced Tuesday on expectations of higher energy demand from China, and on supply concerns following a massive earthquake in Turkey on Monday. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $3.02 or 4.1 percent at $77.14 a barrel, the highest close since January 31.