Win Streak May End For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 30 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 4,220-point plateau although it figures to run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with technology stocks expected to continue to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials and properties were offset by weakness among the industrial companies.

For the day, the index rose 3.35 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 4,219.54 after trading between 4,204.41 and 4,232.10.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT sank 0.74 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Venture Corporation both added 0.45 percent, CapitaLand Investment gained 0.37 percent, City Developments improved 0.61 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 2.65 percent, DBS Group perked 0.28 percent, DFI Retail Group fell 0.56 percent, Hongkong Land surged 2.52 percent, Keppel Ltd lost 0.60 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.74 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rallied 0.86 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.78 percent, SATS tanked 1.55 percent, Seatrium Limited dropped 0.87 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.66 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 1.50 percent, SingTel slumped 0.95 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 1.08 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.43 percent, UOL Group soared 1.67 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.35 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 1.92 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.39 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Genting Singapore and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be soft as the major averages spent most of Wednesday in the red and finally finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 16.04 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 44,938.31, while the NASDAQ sank 142.09 points or 0.67 percent to end at 21,172.86 and the S&P 500 fell 15.59 points or 0.24 percent to close at 6,395.78.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected an extended sell-off by technology stocks following reports indicating the Trump administration is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday.

Powell's remarks could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting in September. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 82.9 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point next month.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories in the U.S. decreased much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.79 or 1.3 percent at $63.14 a barrel.