Winning Streak May Continue For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in seven straight sessions, rallying almost 325 points or 8.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,830-point plateau and it's looking at another strong lead for Thursday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on easing concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's independence. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index advanced 36.91 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 3,832.32 after trading between 3,817.31 and 3,842.97.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.94 percent, while CapitaLand Investment and CapitaLand, Ascendas REIT both added 1.14 percent, City Developments advanced 1.24 percent, Comfort DelGro accelerated 2.01 percent, DBS Group soared 2.46 percent, DFI Retail sank 0.41 percent, Genting Singapore improved 1.38 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.24 percent, Keppel DC REIT strengthened 1.47 percent, Keppel Ltd spiked 2.40 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rallied 1.64 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.99 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust surged 3.42 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.28 percent, SATS jumped 1.83 percent, Seatrium Limited skidded 1.02 percent, SembCorp Industries dipped 0.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering plunged 3.80 percent, SingTel slumped 1.05 percent, Wilmar International increased 1.29 percent, Yangzijiang Financial climbed 1.40 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.81 percent and Thai Beverage was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Wednesday; they came off the day's highs but still finished solidly in the green.

The Dow soared 419.59 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 39,606.57, while the NASDAQ rallied 407.63 points or 2.50 percent to close at 16,708.05 and the S&P 500 jumped 88.10 points or 1.67 percent to end at 5,375.86.

Stocks surged early after President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump's attacks on Powell had led to anxiety on Wall Street about the Fed's independence.

The president also suggested he's willing to take a less confrontational approach to trade talks with China, predicting the current 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports will "come down substantially."

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continue to express concerns about recent volatility in the markets triggered largely by Trump's words.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Wednesday after reports suggested that OPEC may accelerate oil output hikes in June for a second consecutive month. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery tumbled $1.52 or 2.4 percent to $62.15 a barrel.