Singapore Stock Market May Hand Back Tuesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market rebounded on Tuesday, one session after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,240-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed selling pressure on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing concerns over the economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and industrial issues, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index picked up 17.07 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 3,239.33 after trading between 3,221.74 and 3,249.35. Volume was 1.73 billion shares worth 1.02 billion Singapore dollars. There were 269 gainers and 194 decliners.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment climbed 0.80 percent, while City Developments increased 0.74 percent, DBS Group jumped 1.01 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.64 percent, Hongkong Land dipped 0.41 percent, Keppel Corp added 0.56 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust improved 0.54 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust fell 0.58 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation spiked 1.17 percent, SATS lost 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries strengthened 0.88 percent, Singapore Exchange slid 0.53 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.79 percent, SingTel accelerated 1.14 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.48 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 1.04 percent and Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Ascendas REIT, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Comfort DelGro and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages shook off early support on Tuesday, quickly heading south and remaining in the red for the rest of the session.

The Dow tumbled 308.12 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 31,790.87, while the NASDAQ dropped 134.53 points or 1.12 percent to close at 11,883.14 and the S&P 500 sank 44.45 points or 1.10 percent to end at 3,986.16.

The extended sell-off reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the impact further rate hikes will have on the economy.

Stocks have been under pressure since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last Friday that the central bank plans to continue aggressively raising interest rates. Powell suggested that even after the Fed finishes tightening monetary policy, rates will remain at higher levels to ensure inflation remains contained.

In economic news, the Conference Board said that consumer confidence rebounded by more than expected in August. Also, the Labor Department said the number of job openings was little changed at 11.2 million on the last business day of July.

The price of crude oil showed a substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday amid concerns higher interest rates will lead to a global economic slowdown, reducing energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $5.37 or 5 percent to $91.64 a barrel.