Singapore Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Monday saw the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 120 points or 3.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,380-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials, properties and industrials. For the day, the index slipped 15.92 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 3,378.29 after trading between 3,365.31 and 3,408.19. Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment advanced 0.50 percent, while City Developments rose 0.12 percent, DBS Group dropped 0.81 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 1.52 percent, Keppel Corp and Mapletree Logistics Trust both added 0.13 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust shed 0.54 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust retreated 1.23 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.08 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 1.13 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both sank 0.80 percent, SingTel declined 1.18 percent, United Overseas Bank lost 0.40 percent, Wilmar International slumped 0.98 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 2.60 percent and Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Hongkong Land, Thai Beverage, SATS, Comfort DelGro, Emperador and UOLGroup were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel.