Singapore Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 25 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,250-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were own and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index gained 12.83 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 3,247.72 after trading between 3,230.48 and 3,252.82.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.50 percent, while CapitaLand Investment spiked 1.48 percent, Comfort DelGro soared 2.11 percent, DBS Group climbed 0.81 percent, Emperador tumbled 1.18 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 1.10 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.32 percent, Keppel DC REIT tanked 1.15 percent, Keppel Ltd rose 0.41 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.76 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dropped 0.85 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.59 percent, SATS sank 0.77 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 3.45 percent, SembCorp Industries gained 0.56 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.75 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 1.02 percent, Wilmar International surged 2.33 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, City Developments, Mapletree Logistics Trust, SingTel and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plunged 396.61 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 39,170.24, while the NASDAQ tumbled 156.38 points or 0.95 percent to close at 16,240.45 and the S&P 500 sank 37.96 points or 0.72 percent to end at 5,205.81.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates as traders digested recent U.S. inflation and manufacturing data, which has raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in June.

Treasury yields moved sharply higher in reaction to the data and saw further upside during Tuesday's session, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note reaching a four-month high.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department reported a significant rebound in factory orders in February.

Oil prices hit a five-month high on Tuesday amid rising demand following solid manufacturing activity data from the U.S. and China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.44 or 1.72 percent at $85.15 a barrel, the highest settlement since last October.