Continued Strength Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 45 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 4,060-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is generally positive, with technology stocks likely to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the properties and industrials were capped by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index rose 9.96 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 4,057.82 after trading between 4,046.27 and 4,064.58.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT climbed 0.75 percent, while CapitaLand Investment and Hongkong Land both spiked 1.13 percent, City Developments improved 0.56 percent, DBS Group fell 0.17 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.68 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.45 percent, Keppel Ltd jumped 0.91 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust expanded 0.82 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust increased 0.50 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 0.88 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.24 percent, SATS gained 0.33 percent, Seatrium Limited soared 1.94 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.40 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.37 percent, SingTel rose 0.25 percent, Thai Beverage accelerated 1.08 percent, United Overseas Bank was up 0.16 percent, UOL Group skyrocketed 3.44 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.02 percent, Yangzijiang Financial collected 0.57 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.17 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Comfort DelGro and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the session, ending with modest gains.

The Dow jumped 217.54 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 44,458.30, while the NASDAQ rallied 192.88 points or 0.94 percent to end at 20,611.34 and the S&P 500 added 37.74 points or 0.61 percent to close at 6,263.26.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about a potential trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union.

Nvidia (NVDA) helped lead the markets higher, with the AI darling jumping by 1.8 percent and briefly becoming the first company to reach a market capitalization of $4 trillion.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its June monetary policy meeting, which revealed most participants generally agree the central bank is well positioned to wait for more clarity on the outlook for inflation and the economy before adjusting interest rates.

Crude oil price inched higher on Wednesday, as Saudi projections for increased demand were offset by a jump in U.S. oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery ticked higher by $0.05 to settle at $68.38 per barrel.