Win Streak May Continue For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,250-point plateau and it's expected to see continued support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to encouraging economic data. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected 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 advanced 30.58 points or 0.95 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,249.51 after moving as low as 3,222.45.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rose 0.72 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 1.06 percent, CapitaLand Investment advanced 1.29 percent, City Developments spiked 1.51 percent, Comfort DelGro soared 1.59 percent, DBS Group surged 1.64 percent, Emperador gained 0.98 percent, Genting Singapore increased 1.16 percent, Hongkong Land, Keppel Corp lost 0.58 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rallied 1.36 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust gathered 0.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.95 percent, Seatrium Limited sank 0.72 percent, SembCorp Industries was up 0.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 1.30 percent, SingTel improved 1.29 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 0.84 percent, Wilmar International strengthened 1.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.41 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Mapletree Industrial Trust, SATS and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened solidly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 331.58 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 34,907.11, while the NASDAQ spiked 112.47 points or 0.81 percent to end at 13,926.05 and the S&P 500 improved 37.66 points or 0.84 percent to close at 4,505.10.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of August.

Also, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in month of August. However, the data does not raise concerns about inflation, as the increase in prices was largely due to a spike in energy prices.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday as concerns over the outlook for crude supplies outweighed worries about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.64 or 1.9 percent at $90.16 a barrel, the highest settlement in almost 10 months.