Singapore Stock Market May See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 60 points or 1.9 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,150-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on earnings expectations and news. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index picked up 12.51 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 3,152.29 after trading between 3,141.08 and 3,163.68.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT and SATS both fell 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Investment gained 0.34 percent, City Developments improved 0.64 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.71 percent, DBS Group collected 0.44 percent, Emperador slumped 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.03 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.95 percent, Keppel Ltd rose 0.29 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation advanced 0.86 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.75 percent, SembCorp Industries lost 0.55 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering spiked 1.32 percent, SingTel added 0.42 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 0.97 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.20 percent, Yangzijiang Financial soared 1.50 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.50 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but accelerated throughout the day, sending the S&P and Dow to record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 395.20 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 37,863.80, while the NASDAQ surged 255.37 points or 1.70 percent to end at 15,310.97 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.87 points or 1.23 percent to close at 4,839.81.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ soared 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 shot up 1.2 percent and the Dow advanced by 0.7 percent.

The run to record highs on Wall Street reflected continued strength among tech stocks ahead of this week's earning news from companies like Intel (INTC), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Netflix (NFLX).

Meanwhile, the Dow received a boost from a surge by shares of Travelers (TRV), with the insurance giant spiking by 6.7 after the company reported Q4 earnings that exceeded estimates.

Economic data also fueled the rally after the University of Michigan released a report showing a significant improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment and a continued decrease in inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Friday, reflecting profit taking after recent gains while traders also weighed concerns about Middle East tensions against uncertainty about the outlook for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude for February delivery fell $0.67 or 0.9 percent to $73.41 a barrel. The more actively trade March contract slumped $0.70 or 1.0 percent to $73.25 a barrel.