Singapore Bourse Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 40 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,280-point plateau although it's expected to stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to an earnings-driven rally among technology stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter leads.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index fell 11.88 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 3,282.03 after trading between 3,271.31 and 3,287.08.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.71 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust retreated 0.98 percent, CapitaLand Investment slid 0.26 percent, City Developments plummeted 5.60 percent, DBS Group rose 0.18 percent, Emperador and DFI Retail both declined 0.99 percent, Hongkong Land added 0.46 percent, Keppel Corp slumped 0.97 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust both tumbled 1.12 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.24 percent, SATS sank 0.77 percent, SembCorp Industries advanced 0.71 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.28 percent, SingTel rallied 2.01 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.76 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.51 percent, Wilmar International shed 0.75 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.30 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Comfort DelGro and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 524.29 points or 1.57 percent to finish at 33,826.16, while the NASDAQ soared 287.89 points or 2.43 percent to end at 12,142.24 and the S&P 500 jumped 79.36 points or 1.96 percent to close at 4,135.35.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META), which reported better than expected first quarter results and provided upbeat guidance for the current quarter.

Media conglomerate Comcast (CMCSA) also moved sharply higher after reporting first quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates. Big-name companies like eBay (EBAY), Honeywell (HON) and Eli Lilly (LLY) also posted strong gains after reporting their quarterly results.

Meanwhile, traders shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the first quarter of 2023. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined last week.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, supported by data showing a drop in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.46 or 0.6 percent at $74.76 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see March figures for bank lending and unemployment later today. Lending is expected to be worth SGD800 billion, down from SGD803.8 billion in February. The jobless rate is expected to tick up to 2.2 percent from 2.0 percent a month earlier.