Steady Start Seen For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday snapped the six-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 115 points or 4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,175-point plateau although it may see a mild rebound on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on continuing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the property stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and industrial issues.

For the day, the index fell 6.72 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,173.81 after trading between 3,153.49 and 3,177.23.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 1.08 percent, CapitaLand Investment stumbled 1.60 percent, City Developments plunged 3.17 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.75 percent, DBS Group collected 0.18 percent, Genting Singapore and Jardine Cycle both skidded 1.13 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 2.68 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.92 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 2.19 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 0.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 1.27 percent, SATS rallied 0.78 percent, Seatrium Limited jumped 0.89 percent, SembCorp Industries skyrocketed 6.30 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 0.26 percent, SingTel added 0.40 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 1.83 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.28 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tanked 3.03 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Emperador, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Jardine Matheson were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages shook off early weakness to quickly move higher and finish with modest gains.

The Dow added 56.74 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 34,152.74, while the NASDAQ jumped 121.08 points or 0.90 percent to end at 13,639.86 and the S&P 500 rose 12.40 points or 0.28 percent to close at 4,378.38.

Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street as traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. But selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, with continued optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributing to the rebound.

The rebound by stocks also came as treasury yields showed a notable move back to the downside after surging in the previous session.

Traders also looked ahead to speeches by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later today and Thursday. Powell is due to deliver opening remarks at the Division of Research and Statistics Centennial Conference and participate in a policy panel discussions.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as concerns about the outlook for fuel demand offset recent decisions by Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend production cuts to the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $3.45 or 4.3 percent at $77.37 a barrel.