Singapore Stock Market Expected To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has closed lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 80 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,280-point plateau although it figures to find traction on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrials. For the day, the index stumbled 37.38 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 3,280.82 after trading between 3,271.78 and 3,312.84. Among the actives, Ascendas REIT shed 1.08 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tanked 2.04 percent, CapitaLand Investment retreated 1.56 percent, City Developments plummeted 3.20 percent, Comfort DelGro slid 0.84 percent, DBS Group lost 1.03 percent, Genting Singapore fell 0.98 percent, Hongkong Land declined 1.67 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plunged 2.89 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slid 0.87 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dropped 1.20 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation stumbled 1.54 percent, SATS and Venture Corporation both dipped 0.70 percent, SembCorp Industries was down 0.54 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 1.10 percent, SingTel tumbled 2.00 percent, United Overseas Bank skidded 1.26 percent, Wilmar International eased 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slumped 1.39 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 1.57 percent and Emperador and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday but improved steadily throughout the session and finished in the green.

The Dow added 38.78 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 34,128.05, while the NASDAQ jumped 110.45 points or 0.92 percent to end at 12,070.59 and the S&P 500 rose 11.47 points or 0.28 percent to close at 4,147.60.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the release of upbeat retail sales data.

The sharp increase in retail sales has led to concerns the Federal Reserve will be encouraged to continue aggressively raising interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.

The concerns about rates may have been partly offset by a separate report from the Federal Reserve showing U.S. industrial production was unexpectedly unchanged in January.

Crude oil prices came off daily lows but still moved solidly lower on Wednesday, hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar and a spike in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate was down $0.47 or 0.6 percent to $78.59 per barrel.