Soft Start Expected For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Wednesday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 45 points or 1.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,130-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat and mixed to lower on recession concerns and sliding crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dipped 5.34 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 3,134.87 after trading between 3,123.90 and 3,154.76. Volume was 1.16 billion shares worth 1.27 billion Singapore dollars. There were 285 decliners and 197 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT slumped 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 0.91 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 0.51 percent, City Developments eased 0.12 percent, DBS Group lost 0.50 percent, Genting Singapore surrendered 1.35 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.38 percent, Keppel Corp, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Thai Beverage all skidded 0.76 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust sank 0.53 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gained 0.52 percent, SATS tanked 1.76 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.70 percent, Singapore Exchange retreated 1.04 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering declined 1.22 percent, SingTel fell 0.39 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.45 percent, Wilmar International plunged 1.92 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 3.45 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.59 percent and Comfort DelGro, Mapletree Logistics Trust and DFI Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly flat as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, spiked up and down throughout the day before finally ending the session mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 82.32 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 31,029.31, while the NASDAQ dipped 3.65 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,177.89 and the S&P 500 eased 2.72 points or 0.07 percent to end at 3,818.83.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets kept traders on the sidelines following recent volatility.

Traders also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who participated in a panel discussion at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking. Powell reiterated that the U.S. economy is "well positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy" but cautioned there's no guarantee the Fed can engineer a "soft landing."

In economic news, revised data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic activity shrank by slightly more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2022.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday, snapping a three-day winning streak with traders looking to the two-day OPEC meeting that began today to discuss supply issues. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.98 or 1.8 percent at $109.78 a barrel.