Win Streak May Continue For Singapore Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 55 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just shy of the 4,020-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to better than expected U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index added 8.80 points or 0.22 percent to finish at the daily high of 4,019.57 after trading as low as 4,001.84.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT added 0.73 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.45 percent, CapitaLand Investment improved 0.74 percent, City Developments soared 2.23 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 1.40 percent, DBS Group collected 0.22 percent, DFI Retail Group surged 4.98 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.74 percent, Keppel DC REIT dropped 0.85 percent, Keppel Ltd accelerated 1.45 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.79 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Seatrium Limited and SembCorp Industries all strengthened 0.98 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.85 percent, SATS lost 0.32 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.63 percent, SingTel sank 0.77 percent, United Overseas Bank was up 0.03 percent, UOL Group slumped 1.19 percent, Wilmar International jumped 1.03 percent, Yangzijiang Financial skyrocketed 6.96 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Genting Singapore, Thai Beverage and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the shortened session ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The Dow rallied 344.11 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,828.53, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.97 points or 1.02 percent to close at 20,601.10 and the S&P 500 gained 51.93 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,279.35.

The continued strength on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department report showing U.S. employment increased more than expected in June. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 144,000 jobs in May.

Traders reacted positively to the data even though the stronger than expected job growth is likely to reduce the chances of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil settled lower on Thursday as excess U.S. inventories and an upcoming OPEC+ meeting triggered supply side concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.45, to settle at $67 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see May numbers for retail sales later today; in April, sales were up 0.3 percent both on month and on year.