Singapore Stocks Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had added almost a dozen points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Time Index now sits just beneath the 3,860-point plateau and it may see additional support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the FOMC meeting later this week. The European and U.S. markets moved higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the industrial stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and properties.

For the day, the index added 23.34 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 3,859.36 after trading between 3,848.28 and 3,870.74.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.47 percent, while CapitaLand Investment rose 0.38 percent, City Developments gained 0.59 percent, Comfort DelGro retreated 1.40 percent, DBS Group perked 0.25 percent, DFI Retail tumbled 1.76 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 2.05 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 0.91 percent, Keppel Ltd strengthened 1.50 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust improved 0.81 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.79 percent, SATS added 0.66 percent, Seatrium Limited climbed 1.44 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 2.35 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.77 percent, SingTel soared 2.11 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.98 percent, Venture Corporation fell 0.24 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial sank 0.76 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 1.75 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Keppel DC REIT and Emperador were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday, dipped midday but still finished solidly in the green.

The Dow jumped 353.44 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 41,841.63, while the NASDAQ climbed 54.58 points or 0.31 percent to close at 17,808.66 and the S&P 500 improved 36.18 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,675.12.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, which saw the S&P 500 plunge into correction territory last Thursday.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to the Commerce Department's report on U.S. retail sales in the month of February, which wasn't as bad as feared.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed is almost universally expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement and officials' latest projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

Oil futures rose on Monday on hopes of improved demand from China after plans to boost consumer spending, and on possible supply disruptions due to the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.40 or 0.6 percent at $67.58 a barrel.