Singapore Shares May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, stumbling almost 25 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,060-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on weak earnings and slightly higher inflation. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower again on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index shed 9.46 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 3,061.85 after trading between 3,058.14 and 3,079.80.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.40 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust soared 1.75 percent, CapitaLand Investment plunged 1.37 percent, City Developments spiked 1.63 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 0.76 percent, DBS Group eased 0.03 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.57 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 0.96 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust added 0.77 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation skidded 0.70 percent, SATS tumbled 1.22 percent, Seatrium Limited declined 0.88 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.22 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.27 percent, SingTel retreated 0.84 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.94 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.44 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 3.39 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.68 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Emperador and Keppel Corp were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and finished the same way.

The Dow tumbled 366.71 points or 1.12 percent to finish at 32,417.59, while the NASDAQ added 47.41 points or 0.38 percent to close at 12,643.01 and the S&P 500 sank 19.86 points or 0.48 percent to end at 4,117.37.

For the week, the Dow dropped 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 slumped 2.5 percent and the NASDAQ stumbled 2.6 percent.

The rebound by the NASDAQ reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Amazon (AMZN) and semiconductor giant Intel (INTC), which beat estimates - while disappointing earnings from Chevron (CVX) weighed heavily on the Dow.

Traders were also digesting a Commerce Department report showing that consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent in September, matching the increase in August. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Friday as tensions in the Middle East escalated with Israeli ground forces expanding operations in Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $2.33 or 2.8 percent at $85.54 a barrel. WTI crude futures posted a weekly loss of 3.6 percent.