Singapore Shares Due For Support On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, falling more than 70 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,150-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with optimism from easing treasury yields offset by concerns for the health of the world's economies. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, industrials and telecoms.

For the day, the index dropped 44.96 points or 1.41 percent to finish at 3,147.39 after trading between 3,134.64 and 3,165.99.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT shed 1.48 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 2.73 percent, CapitaLand Investment eased 0.98 percent, City Developments dropped 1.68 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.78 percent, DBS Group was down 0.92 percent, Genting Singapore slipped 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.58 percent, Keppel Corp surrendered 2.84 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tanked 2.86 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 1.34 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust retreated 2.44 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slid 1.17 percent, SATS stumbled 2.32 percent, Seatrium Limited plunged 3.08 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 1.62 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 1.03 percent, SingTel plummeted 3.29 percent, Thai Beverage declined 2.65 percent, Wilmar International slumped 1.91 percent, Yangzijiang Financial lost 1.39 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding skidded 1.85 percent and Emperador and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday, saw peaks and valleys throughout the session before ending firmly in the green.

The Dow climbed 127.17 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 33,129.55, while the NASDAQ rallied 176.54 points or 1.35 percent to end at 13,236.01 and the S&P 500 gained 34.30 points or 0.81 percent to close at 4,263.75.

Trading on Wall Street was driven in reaction to bond market activity, with treasury yields fluctuating over the course of the session. The higher close by stocks came as yields finished firmly in negative territory, giving back ground after reaching their highest levels in 16 years.

Treasury yields closed lower following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector job growth slowed by much more than expected in September.

Traders were still cautious ahead of the Labor Department's more closely watched report on Friday, which may affect the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for demand amid worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $5.01 or 5.6 percent at $84.22 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see August data for retail sales later today; in July, sales were up 0.6 percent on month and 1.1 percent on year.