Steady Start Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 10 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,210-point plateau and may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast is murky, with support from technology stocks likely offset by concern over the ongoing U.S. debt ceiling situation. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the properties and industrials were pared by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index slid 6.49 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 3,207.72 after trading between 3,195.95 and 3,213.23.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT plunged 2.54 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tanked 1.98 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 0.57 percent, City Developments fell 0.29 percent, Comfort DelGro retreated 1.75 percent, DBS Group collected 0.67 percent, DFI Retail plummeted 3.04 percent, Emperador advanced 0.98 percent, Genting Singapore climbed 1.00 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.36 percent, Keppel Corp tumbled 1.87 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 1.79 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust skidded 1.21 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and SembCorp Industries both gained 0.41 percent, SingTel dropped 1.17 percent, Thai Beverage sank 0.87 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.19 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.50 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Mapletree Industrial Trust, SATS and UOL Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and finished the same way.

The Dow shed 35.27 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 32,764.65, while the NASDAQ surged 213.93 points or 1.71 percent to end at 12,698.09 and the S&P 500 gained 36/04 points or 0.88 percent to close at 4,151.28.

The rebound on Wall Street reflected strong earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected results and forecasting Q2 revenue well above estimates - resulting in a surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Traders also kept an eye on any developments in the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations amid lingering concerns about a potential default. Reflecting the default concerns, Fitch Ratings placed the United States "AAA" credit on "rating watch negative," signaling downside risks to U.S. creditworthiness.

In economic news, a revision from the Commerce Department showed economic growth in the U.S. slowed less than estimated in the first quarter of 2023. Also, the Labor Department showed a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, after Russia's Deputy Prime Minister said Russia won't agree on any additional cut in crude production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $2.51 or 3.4 percent at $71.83 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see April numbers for industrial production later today, with forecasts calling for an increase of 0.9 percent on month and a fall of 3.9 percent on year. That follows the 9.3 percent monthly spike and the 4.2 percent contraction in March.