Singapore Bourse May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the five-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 90 points or 2.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,490-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, especially among the technology and semiconductor companies. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses also figure to follow suit.

The STI finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the property stocks and industrial issues, while the financial sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index perked 1.66 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,489.57 after trading between 3,482.73 and 3,495.53.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust sank 0.48 percent, while CapitaLand Investment advanced 0.73 percent, City Developments and UOL Group both improved 0.37 percent, DBS Group lost 0.21 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.47 percent, Keppel DC REIT rallied 1.03 percent, Keppel Ltd rose 0.30 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.53 percent, SATS tumbled 1.51 percent, SembCorp Industries strengthened 0.85 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.46 percent, SingTel dropped 0.98 percent, Thai Beverage soared 2.06 percent, Wilmar International jumped 1.28 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 0.41 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore, Comfort DelGro, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Yangzijiang Financial and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is a study in contrasts as the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, hitting a fresh record high - while the NASDAQ and S&P remained mired in the red.

The Dow soared 243.60 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 41,198.08, while the NASDAQ plummeted 512.42 points or 2.77 percent to close at 17.996.92 and the S&P 500 tumbled 78.93 points or 1.39 percent to end at 5,588.27.

Wall Street was led lower by semiconductor stocks, which plummeted on reports that President Joe Biden's administration is considering tougher trade rules against companies in its chip crackdown on China.

Negative sentiment was also generated after former President Donald Trump suggested Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defense, claiming the country took "about 100 percent" of America's chip business.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a significant rebound by new residential construction and building permits in the U.S. in June. A separate report released by the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the U.S. increased more than expected last month.

Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also provided support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August rallied $2.09 or 2.6 percent at $82.85 a barrel.