Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,140-point plateau although it's likely to turn lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on rising pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to also open under pressure.

The STI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties and mixed performances from the financials and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 3.57 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 3,141.87 after trading between 3,118.67 and 3,151.70.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT dropped 0.72 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.51 percent, City Developments advanced 0.67 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.71 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.15 percent, Hongkong Land soared 2.21 percent, Keppel DC REIT jumped 1.75 percent, Keppel Ltd rose 0.28 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 1.44 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust tumbled 1.67 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.66 percent, SATS climbed 0.74 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 2.30 percent, SembCorp Industries rallied 1.09 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.53 percent, SingTel fell 0.43 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 1.01 percent, UOL Group skidded 0.99 percent, Wilmar International spiked 1.92 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.59 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tanked 2.42 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore, CapitaLand Investment and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened sharply lower and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow plunged 524.63 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 38,272.75, while the NASDAQ tumbled 286.95 points or 1.80 percent to close at 15,655.60 and the S&P 500 sank 68.67 points or 1.37 percent to end at 4,953.17.

The sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in January.

With Federal Reserve officials repeatedly saying they need more confidence that inflation is slowing before lowering interest rates, the data has further reduced optimism about a near-term rate cut.

Treasuries yields surged in response to the data, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest level in two months.

Oil prices climbed higher Tuesday amid concerns about supply due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $0.95 or 1.25 percent at $77.87 a barrel, up for a seventh straight session.