Singapore Shares May Run Out Of Steam On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 60 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,510-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as the properties and industrials were mostly in the green, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index gathered 16.14 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 3,512.67 after trading between 3,497.80 and 3,523.47.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust jumped 1.03 percent, while CapitaLand Investment slumped 1.06 percent, City Developments gained 0.38 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 1.38 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.03 percent, Emperador declined 1.15 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.61 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 1.60 percent, Keppel DC REIT skidded 0.46 percent, Keppel Ltd sank 0.16 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 0.71 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dropped 0.40 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust improved 0.70 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.00 percent, SATS soared 2.49 percent, Seatrium Limited spiked 1.95 percent, SembCorp Industries accelerated 1.63 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 0.90 percent, SingTel surged 3.18 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.59 percent, Yangzijiang Financial stumbled 1.45 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Thai Beverage and Venture Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and bounced back and forth across the line before finishing on opposite sides.

The Dow shed 92.63 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 40,736.96, while the NASDAQ jumped 141.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 17,025.88 and the S&P 500 added 24.47 points or 0.45 percent to end at 5,495.52.

The volatility seen over the course of the trading day came as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched consumer and producer price inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

The data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week.

The Fed is almost universally expected to begin lowering interest rates next week, but there is some debate about if the rate cut will be 25 basis points or 50.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday, ahead of the inflation data and on concerns over the health of the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery stumbled $2.43 or 3.54 percent to finish at $66.28 per barrel.