Additional Support Anticipated For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,205-point plateau and it's poised to add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with bargain hunting expected among easing treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the industrials, losses from the REITs and a mixed picture from the financial and property sectors.

For the day, the index rose 6.96 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 3,206.99 after trading between 3,196.44 and 3,210.13.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.37 percent, while City Developments fell 0.30 percent, DBS Group rose 0.21 percent, Emperador slumped 0.95 percent, Frasers Logistics plunged 2.75 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.59 percent, Hongkong Land surged 4.03 percent, Keppel Corp climbed 0.89 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust sank 0.71 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust skidded 0.89 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.60 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and SATS both collected 0.39 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering spiked 1.04 percent, SingTel improved 0.42 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.85 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.27 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.37 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding advanced 0.60 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, Comfort DelGro, Seatrium Limited and SembCorp Industries were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday and moved firmly higher, although ending well of the daily highs.

The Dow climbed 116.07 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 33,666.34, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.43 points or 0.83 percent to close at 13,201.28 and the S&P 500 rose 25.19 points or 0.59 percent to end at 4,299.70.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting, as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.

A downturn by treasury yields also contributed to the strength among stocks, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note giving back ground after reaching its highest levels since October 2007.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the pace of U.S. economic growth in the second quarter of 2023 was unrevised from the previous estimate. Also, the Labor Department noted a slight increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures failed to hold gains and fell sharply on Thursday, due largely on profit taking. Oil prices rose to one-year high earlier in the day after recent data showing a drop in crude inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $1.97 or 2.1 percent at $91.71 a barrel.