Renewed Consolidation Called For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr, the Singapore stock market had ended the two-day losing streak in which it had shed almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,235-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on rising concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties and trusts, while the financials and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 21.53 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 3,237.52 after trading between 3,220.72 and 3,247.89.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment advanced 0.74 percent, while City Developments and DBS Group both added 0.68 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.68 percent, Genting Singapore and Venture Corporation both rallied 1.10 percent, Hongkong Land soared 1.64 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both gained 0.58 percent, Keppel Ltd improved 0.28 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust spiked 1.49 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust surged 1.72 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust jumped 1.35 percent, SATS rose 0.39 percent, Seatrium Limited strengthened 1.18 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering was up 0.25 percent, SingTel fell 0.41 percent, Wilmar International climbed 0.86 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.52 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slumped 1.08 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Emperador, SembCorp Industries, Frasers Logistics and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 422.16 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 38,461.51, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 16,170.36 and the S&P 500 sank 49.27 points or 0.95 percent to end at 5,160.64.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices advanced by slightly more than expected in March, also causing a surge in treasury yields.

The data added to recent worries the Federal Reserve will hold off on lowering interest rates amid ongoing inflation concerns. Fed officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

The minutes of the central bank's latest monetary policy meeting, released later in the day, revealed Fed officials were already not convinced inflation is moving sustainably down to 2 percent after January and February readings on core and headline inflation had been firmer than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on rising geopolitical tensions amid reports of a likely strike by Iran against Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.98 at $86.21 a barrel.