Singapore Bourse May Reverse Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one session after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had shed almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,225-point plateau although it may find renewed support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing Treasury yields. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index lost 9.91 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 3,227.61 after trading between 3,205.68 and 3,232.12.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tumbled 2.17 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 1.02 percent, CapitaLand Investment weakened 1.47 percent, City Developments retreated 2.02 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.68 percent, DBS Group added 0.59 percent, Emperador rallied 1.20 percent, Genting Singapore, SembCorp Industries and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding all surrendered 1.09 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.62 percent, Keppel DC REIT stumbled 1.72 percent, Keppel Ltd skidded 1.23 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tanked 2.21 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust declined 1.69 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plummeted 2.67 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.36 percent, SATS rose 0.39 percent, Seatrium Limited plunged 2.33 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.75 percent, SingTel fell 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 1.03 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.57 percent and Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.54 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and climbed well into the green, although the Dow failed late and ended in the red.

The Dow eased 2.43 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 38,459.08, while the NASDAQ surged 271.84 points or 1.68 percent to end at 16,442.20 and the S&P 500 added 38.42 points or 0.74 percent to close at 5,199.06.

The rally by the NASDAQ and S&P 500 seemed to coincide with the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $22 billion worth of 30-year bonds, which saw average demand.

Treasury yields pulled back off their highs following the release of the results, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note giving ground. The Treasury revealed below average demand for this month's three-year and 10-year note auctions earlier in the week.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased in line with estimates in March.

Crude oil prices dropped from five-month highs on Thursday amid concerns the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for a longer period due to inflationary pressures. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended down by $1.19 at $85.02 a barrel.