Singapore Stock Market Has Positive Lead For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 45 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,145-point plateau and it's likely to open higher again on Wednesday.

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

The STI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the properties and the industrials.

For the day, the index perked 4.52 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 3,145.83 after trading between 3,142.28 and 3,155.29. Volume was 1.65 billion shares worth 1.11 billion Singapore dollars. There were 288 decliners and 220 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT and SingTel both lost 0.39 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust sank 0.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment surged 3.40 percent, City Developments declined 1.02 percent, DBS Group collected 0.46 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.62 percent, Keppel Corp slumped 0.84 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust skidded 0.63 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.68 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.25 percent, SATS and Jardine Cycle both retreated 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries plummeted 3.22 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tumbled 1.19 percent, Thai Beverage plunged 1.67 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.23 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding spiked 1.59 percent and Hongkong Land, Yangzijiang Financial, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Comfort DelGro, Emperador and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages accelerated Tuesday morning, faded in the afternoon but steadied going into the close.

The Dow surged 333.83 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 33,160.83, while the NASDAQ advanced 51.68 points or 0.49 percent to end at 10,616.20 and the S&P 500 gained 21.31 points or 0.56 percent to close at 3,828.11.

The higher close on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, with the major averages adding to the strong gains posted Monday and last Friday to further offset last week's pullback.

The continued strength also came as traders awaited the outcome of Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.

The early afternoon pullback by stocks coincided with a steep drop by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which followed news Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reached a deal to buy competitor FTX.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday as reports showing a surge in COVID-19 cases in China raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $2.88 or 3.1 percent at $88.91 a barrel.