Singapore Shares Tipped To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day slide in which it had dipped almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,115-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the industrials, weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index added 3.39 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 3,116.62 after trading between 3,103.37 and 3,127.26.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, DBS Group and Genting Singapore all added 0.51 percent, CapitaLand Investment slumped 1.01 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.54 percent, Hongkong Land sank 0.60 percent, Keppel Corp gained 0.44 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.41 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.16 percent, SATS jumped 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries advanced 0.59 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.53 percent, SingTel rallied 0.83 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 0.99 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.86 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding climbed 0.69 percent and Emperador, Comfort DelGro, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Seatrium Limited, Ascendas REIT, Yangzijiang Financial, Mapletree Logistics Trust, UOL Group and DFI Retail Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 251.90 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 37,557.92, while the NASDAQ advanced 98.03 points or 0.66 percent to close at 15,003.22 and the S&P 500 added 27.81 points or 0.59 percent to end at 4,768.37.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates continued to contribute to strength on Wall Street following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last week.

Adding to the positive sentiment, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said interest rate cuts are likely to be appropriate next year because of an improvement in inflation.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a substantial increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in November. Also, building permits slumped more than expected.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, extending gains on supply concerns after several companies rerouting their vessels due to the attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January rose $0.97 or 1.3 percent at $73.44 a barrel.