Singapore Bourse May Hand Back Tuesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday finally halted 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 4,300-point plateau although it may head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on rising ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates. 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 higher on Tuesday as gains from the industrials and trusts were capped by weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the banks.

For the day, the index rose 5.30 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 4,302.67 after trading between 4,281.03 and 4,315.16.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT spiked 1.44 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust accelerated 1.32 percent, CapitaLand Investment climbed 0.75 percent, City Developments eased 0.15 percent, DBS Group collected 0.54 percent, DFI Retail Group sank 0.31 percent, Genting Singapore retreated 1.31 percent, Hongkong Land declined 1.23 percent, Keppel DC REIT rallied 1.27 percent, Keppel Ltd strengthened 1.02 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.71 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust soared 1.61 percent, SATS gained 0.30 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 3.85 percent, SembCorp Industries improved 0.66 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 0.23 percent, SingTel stumbled 1.61 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 1.08 percent, United Overseas Bank perked 0.03 percent, UOL Group fell 0.26 percent, Yangzijiang Financial dropped 0.82 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 1.22 percent and Comfort DelGro, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Wilmar International and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed but trended steadily lower as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 88.76 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 46,292.78, while the NASDAQ shed 215.50 points or 0.95 percent to end at 22,573.47 and the S&P 500 sank 36.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 6,656.92.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street may partly have reflected concerns that stocks are overvalued following comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Speaking at an event Rhode Island, Powell described equity prices as "fairly highly valued" following the recent run to record highs.

Powell also addressed the outlook for monetary policy, noting that the Fed is facing a "challenging situation" as near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday as Iraq's earlier-announced plans to export oil to Turkey from Kurdistan stalled due to payment issues. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.26 or 2.02 percent at $63.54 per barrel.