Singapore Shares May Tick Higher On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had accelerated more than 80 points or 2.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,220-point plateau although it may rebound on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished barely lower on Thursday as losses from the financials and properties were mitigated by support from the industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 1.98 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 3,219.00 after trading between 3,191.99 and 3,223.03.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT slumped 0.71 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.52 percent, CapitaLand Investment sank 0.85 percent, City Developments dipped 0.14 percent, Comfort DelGro spiked 1.69 percent, DBS Group eased 0.03 percent, Genting Singapore improved 0.92 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.93 percent, Keppel Corp added 0.55 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tumbled 1.13 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slid 0.16 percent, SATS rallied 1.61 percent, SembCorp Industries advanced 0.97 percent, SingTel fell 0.41 percent, United Overseas Bank lost 0.27 percent, Yangzijiang Financial soared 2.74 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 4.17 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Wilmar International, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Thai Beverage, Emperador and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened firmly higher Thursday, faded into negative territory as the day progressed before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow added 75.14 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,105.25, while the NASDAQ surged 117.44 points or 1.01 percent to end at 11,787.40 and the S&P 500 rose 11.75 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,948.72.

The early rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to react to Wednesday's monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve, which indicated the central bank is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as concerns about the recent trouble in the banking sector continue to hang over the markets.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales in the U.S. increased from a significantly downwardly revised level in February.

Oil prices drifted lower Thursday on concerns the interest rate hikes by several central banks could slow down economic growth and impact the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.94 or 1.3 percent at $69.96 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide February data for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.7 percent on month and a decline of 1.9 percent on year. That follows the 1.1 percent monthly decline and the 2.7 percent annual drop in January.