Singapore Bourse May Test Support At 3,100 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than a dozen points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,135-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes that the FOMC will trim interest rates at next month's meeting. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The STI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index slumped 45.48 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 3,134.29 after trading between 3,123.10 and 3,154.72.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tumbled 2.79 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust weakened 2.49 percent, CapitaLand Investment tanked 3.04 percent, City Developments shed 2.15 percent, Comfort DelGro fell 0.71 percent, DBS Group was down 1.15 percent, Emperador and Genting Singapore both gave up 0.98 percent, Hongkong Land advanced 0.95 percent, Keppel DC REIT dropped 2.41 percent, Keppel Ltd declined 2.61 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plummeted 4.03 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 1.63 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 1.96 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 1.46 percent, SATS eased 0.35 percent, Seatrium Limited plunged 4.00 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 2.24 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slipped 1.32 percent, SingTel slumped 2.46 percent, Thai Beverage surrendered 2.86 percent, Wilmar International retreated 2.69 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slid 1.59 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding skidded 2.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 274.30 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 38,380.12, while the NASDAQ shed 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to end at 15,597.68 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.80 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,942.81.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on last week's rally amid fading optimism about the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates next month during an interview over the weekend. Powell suggested the strength of the U.S. economy even amidst elevated rates will allow the Fed to proceed carefully.

Stocks fell to their lows of the session as the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector growth accelerated by more than expected in January, further dampening hopes for a rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday as concerns about trade and supply disruptions outweighed a firm dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $0.50 or 0.7 percent a barrel at $72.78 a barrel.