Renewed Selling Pressure Likely For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,300-point plateau although it's looking at renewed consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected after solid gains a day earlier - especially among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and industrials, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 15.63 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 3,301.96 after trading between 3,287.84 and 3,307.29. Volume was 1.43 billion shares worth 1.28 billion Singapore dollars. There were 304 gainers and 200 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT accelerated 1.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust perked 0.48 percent, CapitaLand Investment plummeted 4.39 percent, City Developments dipped 0.12 percent, Comfort DelGro and DBS Group both added 0.69 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.21 percent, Keppel Corp was up 0.29 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust gained 0.52 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust strengthened 1.12 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust soared 2.27 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.73 percent, SATS rose 0.49 percent, SembCorp Industries advanced 0.93 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.49 percent, SingTel slumped 1.13 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 2.26 percent, United Overseas Bank climbed 0.96 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.20 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.27 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.63 percent and Singapore Exchange, Hongkong Land and DFI Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but were unable to hold the early gains and eventually finished mixed.

The Dow rose 27.16 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 33,336.67, while the NASDAQ sank 74.89 points or 0.58 percent to end at 12,779.91 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.97 points or 0.07 percent to close at 4,207.27.

The extended rally in early trading came after the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected decrease in producer prices in July.

Following Wednesday's tamer than expected consumer price data, the report initially added to optimism that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its interest rate hikes next month.

However, subsequent comments from Fed officials seemed to downplay the data, with Chicago Fed President Charles Evans saying inflation remains "unacceptably high."

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday on rising hopes for energy demand after the International Energy Agency lifted its demand outlook. The dollar's weakness following the soft inflation data also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures ended higher by $2.41 or 2.6 percent at $94.34 a barrel.