Win Streak May Continue For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in six straight sessions, gathering almost 185 points or 5.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,740-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, mostly on inertia following the U.S. election. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the trusts, weakness from the plantations and a mixed performance from the property sector.

For the day, the index added 15.10 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,739.47 after trading between 3,705.53 and 3,760.84.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment climbed 1.43 percent, while DBS Group added 0.83 percent, Emperador skidded 1.18 percent, Genting Singapore and DFI Retail Group both stumbled 1.27 percent, Hongkong Land declined 1.51 percent, Keppel DC REIT jumped 1.85 percent, Keppel Ltd lost 0.31 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust gained 0.81 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust advanced 0.88 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 1.56 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 1.62 percent, SATS tumbled 2.08 percent, Seatrium Limited tanked 2.50 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.43 percent, SingTel retreated 1.54 percent, Venture Corporation plunged 5.49 percent, Wilmar International surrendered 1.59 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slumped 1.25 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 5.60 percent and City Developments, Comfort DelGro, Thai Beverage, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Monday and spent most of the day hugging line before finishing with mild gains that were all fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 304.14 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 44,294.13, while the NASDAQ rose 11.99 points or 0.06 percent to close at 19,298.76 and the S&P 500 added 5.81 points or 0.10 percent to end at 6,001.35.

Investors remained optimistic that Donald Trump's policies such as tax reductions and deregulation will help boost corporate earnings.

Oil futures closed sharply lower on Monday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and concerns about demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $2.34 or 3.6 percent at $68.04 a barrel.