Losses May Accelerate For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market turned lower again on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,460-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on disappointing earnings news and soft data. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The STI finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the financials and trusts were mitigated by mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 0.34 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,460.82 after trading between 3,443.58 and 3,463.86. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slumped 0.97 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.74 percent, City Developments added 0.55 percent, DBS Group eased 0.03 percent, Genting Singapore sank 0.58 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.30 percent, Keppel DC REIT shed 0.52 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.46 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust skidded 0.76 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust retreated 0.87 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slid 0.33 percent, SATS and Jardine Matheson both lost 0.47 percent, Seatrium Limited rallied 1.33 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 1.30 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.23 percent, SingTel jumped 1.66 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 0.99 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.88 percent Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Comfort DelGro, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Emperador, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and UOL Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened deep in the red on Wednesday and only moved lower as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plummeted 504.22 points or 1.25 percent to finish at 39,853.87, while the NASDAQ plunged 654.94 points or 3.64 percent to close at 17,342.41 and the S&P 500 tumbled 128.61 points or 2.31 percent to end at 5,427.13.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid a negative reaction to disappointing corporate earnings news from companies like Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

In economic news, the Commerce Department unexpectedly reported a continued decrease in new home sales in the U.S. in June.

Oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.63 or 0.81 percent at $77.59 a barrel, snapping a three-day losing streak.