Singapore Stock Market May Give Up Support At 3,200 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,220-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious on concerns for the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the properties and industrials, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 20.94 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 3,220.23 after trading between 3,218.46 and 3,246.19.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gathered 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.88 percent, City Developments declined 1.28 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.88 percent, DBS Group collected 0.13 percent, Emperador slumped 0.96 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 1.04 percent, Hongkong Land tanked 1.98 percent, Keppel Corp plunged 5.17 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust gained 0.60 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 1.35 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.24 percent, SATS tumbled 1.84 percent, Seatrium retreated 1.54 percent, SembCorp Industries plummeted 9.17 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.54 percent, SingTel shed 0.79 percent, Thai Beverage sank 0.87 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.74 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.76 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Yangzijiang Financial and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and stayed in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 245.25 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 34,053.87, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.28 points or 0.16 percent to end at 13,667.29 and the S&P 500 fell 20.88 points or 0.47 percent to close at 4,388.71.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the NASADAQ and the S&P 500 to their best levels in over a year last week.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders look ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later today regarding the outlook for interest rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed in May, while building permits also jumped more than expected.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns that further tightening by the Federal Reserve and other central banks may impact global economic growth and weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.74 at $71.19 a barrel.