Singapore Bourse May Reclaim 3,300-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 25 points or 0.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,300-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to easing concerns over inflation and interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index gained 8.42 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 3,294.54 after trading between 3,280.07 and 3,297.05.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rallied 1.06 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gathered 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment increased 0.54 percent, City Developments fell 0.41 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.83 percent, DBS Group gained 0.62 percent, Genting Singapore climbed 0.86 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.91 percent, Keppel Corp was up 0.34 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust jumped 1.10 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust perked 0.42 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rose 0.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.47 percent, SATS tumbled 1.79 percent, SembCorp Industries improved 0.71 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.55 percent, SingTel added 0.80 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 1.55 percent, United Overseas Bank dipped 0.20 percent, Wilmar International was down 0.24 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding advanced 0.83 percent and Emperador, Yangzijiang Financial, UOL Group and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 383.19 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 34,029.69, while the NASDAQ spiked 236.93 points or 1.99 percent to end at 12,166.27 and the S&P 500 jumped54.27 points or 1.33 percent to close at 4,146.22.

The rally on Wall Street came following a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. producer prices in March.

Combined with Wednesday's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data, the report helped ease concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

A separate Labor Department report showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday as weak data and worries about a U.S. recession raised concerns about the outlook for oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May slumped $1.10 or 1.3 percent at $82.16 a barrel.