Singapore Bourse Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 55 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,155-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher and is likely to be driven by earnings news. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the REITs and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 30.47 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 3,156.15 after trading between 3,144.48 and 3,170.40.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT advanced 1.08 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rose 0.51 percent, CapitaLand Investment spiked 1.76 percent, City Developments jumped 1.35 percent, Comfort DelGro increased 0.71 percent, DBS Group surged 2.53 percent, DFI Retail tumbled 1.93 percent, Genting Singapore gained 0.99 percent, Hongkong Land gathered 0.31 percent, Keppel DC REIT was up 1.23 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and SembCorp Industries both improved 0.72 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.41 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 1.33 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 1.49 percent, SATS plunged 2.11 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 4.17 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering perked 0.26 percent, SingTel climbed 1.28 percent, Thai Beverage tanked 1.98 percent, UOL Group shed 0.17 percent, Wilmar International soared 1.83 percent, Yangzijiang Financial accelerated 1.61 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.62 percent and Emperador and Frasers Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the day as the Dow and S&P both hit record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 156.00 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 38,677.36, while the NASDAQ rallied 147.65 points or 0.95 percent to end at 15,756.64 and the S&P 500 gained 40.83 points or 0.82 percent to close at 4,995.06.

The strength on Wall Street reflected recent upbeat economic data, which is still seen as a positive even though it reduces the chance of an interest rate cut next month.

Also supporting the markets were solid earnings news from the likes of solar inverter maker Enphase Energy (ENPH) and auto giant Ford (F).

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in December.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday after official data showed a notable drop in gasoline stockpiles last week in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.55 at $73.86 a barrel, gaining for a third straight session.