Singapore Shares May Take Further Damage On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 120 points or 3.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,285-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is sift on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index dipped 5.38 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 3,287.75 after trading between 3,249.01 and 3,290.01.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment sank 0.75 percent, while City Developments gathered 0.50 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 1.33 percent, DBS Group collected 0.20 percent, Emperador skidded 1.11 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 2.13 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.63 percent, Keppel DC REIT gained 0.58 percent, Keppel Ltd dropped 0.87 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 1.56 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.44 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 1.27 percent, SATS added 0.80 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 2.33 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.18 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slid 0.25 percent, SingTel advanced 0.83 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.57 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding retreated 1.69 percent and DFI Retail Group, Frasers Logistics, Thai Beverage, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Yangzijiang Financial and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained solidly in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plunged 375.12 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 38,085.80, while the NASDAQ tumbled 100.99 points or 0.64 percent to close at 15,611.76 and the S&P 500 sank 23.21 points or 0.46 percent to end at 5,048.42.

A negative reaction to earnings news from Meta Platforms (META) and tech giant IBM Corp. (IBM) contributed to the early sell-off on Wall Street.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. economy grew by much less than expected in the first quarter of 2024. Also, the Commerce Department said the personal consumption expenditures price index climbed more than expected.

Both of those economic results were bad news for investors as they damaged the likelihood of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in the near future.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Thursday, recovering from recent losses, despite data showing slower than expected U.S. first-quarter GDP growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.76 or about 0.92% at $83.57 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release March figures for industrial production in February later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 8.8 percent on month and 1.5 percent on year. That follows the 14.2 percent monthly surge and the 3.8 percent annual gain in February.