Renewed Support Expected For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 35 points or 1 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,360-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, fueled by gains from the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, support from the REITS and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index fell 13.97 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,363.68 after trading between 3,353.16 and 3,380.72.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT spiked 1.38 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Keppel DC REIT both improved 0.47 percent, CapitaLand Investment gained 0.50 percent, City Developments dropped 0.60 percent, Comfort DelGro retreated 0.83 percent, DBS Group tumbled 2.04 percent, Emperador climbed 1.02 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.51 percent, Hongkong Land rose 0.20 percent, Keppel Corp and Jardine Matheson both were up 0.13 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust jumped 1.11 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust soared 1.88 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.58 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation declined 0.77 percent, SATS surged 3.96 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rallied 1.35 percent, United Overseas Bank sank 0.34 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.24 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, SingTel, Thai Beverage, SembCorp Industries and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is a dichotomy as the Dow opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout, while the NASDAQ and S&P opened higher and stayed solidly in the green.

The Dow dipped 39.02 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 34,053.94, while the NASDAQ surged 384.50 points or 3.25 percent to end at 12,200.82 and the S&P 500 soared 60.55 points or 1.47 percent to end at 4,179.76.

The surge by the NASDAQ came as Meta Platforms (META) led a tech sector rally, with the Facebook parent skyrocketing by 23.3 percent to a nearly eight-month closing high after reporting better than expected Q4 revenues.

Stocks also continued to benefit from a positive reaction to the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement on Wednesday, with traders expressing optimism the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hiking cycle.

At the same time, the Dow bucked the uptrend due partly to a notable decline by shares of Merck (MRK), which tumbled by 3.3 percent after the drug giant provided disappointing guidance.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. The dollar's recovery and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand due to concerns about a global recession also hurt. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.53 or 0.7 percent at $75.88 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release December numbers for retail sales later today; in November, sales were down 3.7 percent on month and up 6.2 percent on year.