Singapore Stock Market Poised To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping almost 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,110-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests further consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index lost 15.11 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 3,107.10 after trading between 3,101.24 and 3,133.93.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT dipped 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slid 0.52 percent, CapitaLand Investment stumbled 1.86 percent, City Developments skidded 0.89 percent, DBS Group eased 0.06 percent, Emperador and SembCorp Industries both slumped 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore surrendered 2.19 percent, Hongkong Land retreated 1.59 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Wilmar International both declined 1.19 percent, Keppel Ltd was down 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust sank 0.77 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slipped 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.68 percent, SATS tanked 2.26 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 3.26 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.76 percent, SingTel dropped 0.86 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.98 percent, UOL Group gained 0.72 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 3.03 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding fell 0.56 percent and Comfort DelGro, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained deep in the red throughout the session, ending near daily lows.

The Dow plummeted 404.64 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 38,585.19, while the NASDAQ tumbled 267.92 points or 1.65 percent to close at 15,939.59 and the S&P 500 sank 52.30 points or 1.02 percent to end at 5,078.65.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ to record closing highs last week.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He's due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee later today and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. service sector growth slowed more than expected in February. Also, The Commerce Department noted a drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in January.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday, falling for the second consecutive session on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.59 at $78.15 a barrel.