Soft Start Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, giving up almost 30 points or 0.8 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,270-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the release of key inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, gains from the properties and a mixed picture from the industrials.

For the day, the index lost 16.54 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 4,273.86 after trading between 4,272.39 and 4,297.46.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT tanked 1.42 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 1.31 percent, CapitaLand Investment lost 0.37 percent, City Developments plunged 2.30 percent, Comfort DelGro increased 0.68 percent, DBS Group was down 0.14 percent, DFI Retail Group gained 0.64 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.67 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 3.37 percent, Keppel DC REIT perked 0.42 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.11 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 0.70 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 0.47 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation skidded 0.61 percent, SATS rose 0.59 percent, Seatrium Limited improved 0.83 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.50 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 1.41 percent, SingTel was up 0.23 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.15 percent, UOL Group dropped 0.51 percent, Wilmar International slumped 0.69 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 0.83 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding advanced 0.91 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 173.96 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 45,947.32, while the NASDAQ sank 113.16 points or 0.50 percent to end at 22,384.70 and the S&P 500 lost 33.25 points or 0.50 percent to close at 6,604.72.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade.

Renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets following the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Later today, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on personal income and spending in August, which includes the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Crude oil inched higher on Thursday amid the possibility of Russian oil exports being hit by sanctions by the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.08 or 0.12 percent at $65.07 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see August numbers for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 5.8 percent on month and 2.5 percent on year; that follows the 8.2p percent monthly increase and the 7.1 percent annual gain.