Additional Support Expected For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,220-point plateau and it's tipped to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mostly higher and the U.S. bourses were solidly in the green and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the industrials.

For the day, the index collected 15.51 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 3,220.65 after trading between 3,203.73 and 3,225.35. Volume was 1.1 billion shares worth 1.08 billion Singapore dollars. There were 286 gainers and 175 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.68 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.47 percent, CapitaLand Investment rallied 1.03 percent, City Developments sank 0.38 percent, DBS Group rose 0.54 percent, Hongkong Land retreated 1.42 percent, Keppel Corp spiked 1.50 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust jumped 1.08 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust and SingTel both slumped 1.13 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation advanced 0.95 percent, SATS fell 0.25 percent, SembCorp Industries skidded 1.02 percent, Singapore Exchange soared 1.75 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tumbled 1.46 percent, Thai Beverage added 0.79 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.93 percent, Wilmar International climbed 1.00 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.72 percent and Genting Singapore, Comfort DelGro, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Yangzijiang Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday, quickly moving into positive territory and accelerating into the close.

The Dow jumped 332.04 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 32,529.63, while the NASDAQ climbed 130.17 points or 1.08 percent to end at 12,162.59 and the S&P 500 improved 48.82 points or 1.21 percent to close at 4,072.43.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Commerce Department report showing a continued contraction in U.S. economic activity in the second quarter of 2022, putting the U.S. in a technical recession..

However, economists cast doubt on whether the economy is actually in a recession, citing other indicators indicating continued growth and persistent strength in the labor market.

The data may have still added to optimism that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its interest rate hikes at future meetings, contributing to the turnaround on Wall Street.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as worries about the outlook for energy demand due to slowing global economic growth weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.84 or 0.9 percent at $96.42 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release June figures for bank lending, producer prices and import and export prices later today, plus Q2 numbers for unemployment.

In May, lending was at SGD839.8 billion, while producer prices skyrocketed 31.4 percent on year, import prices jumped an annual 26.8 percent and export prices climbed 27.7 percent. The jobless rate was 2.2 percent in Q1.