Singapore Shares Overdue For Support On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, slumping more than 50 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,300-point plateau although it's expected to open to the upside on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financials and plantations were offset by support from the properties.

For the day, the index shed 9.91 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 4,302.71 after trading between 4,298.94 and 4,319.64.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT lost 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.44 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 0.37 percent, City Developments sank 0.44 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 0.67 percent, DBS Group tanked 1.48 percent, DFI Retail Group plummeted 3.35 percent, Genting Singapore stumbled 1.30 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.20 percent, Keppel DC REIT retreated 1.26 percent, Keppel Ltd improved 0.69 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 1.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation skidded 0.60 percent, SATS dipped 0.30 percent, Seatrium Limited climbed 0.85 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rallied 1.31 percent, SingTel soared 1.38 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.08 percent, United Overseas Bank dropped 0.49 percent, UOL Group rose 0.26 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial advanced 0.85 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.12 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Mapletree Industrial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.