Singapore Stocks May Add To Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 140 points or 3.9 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,640-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, largely on positive momentum amid a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were modestly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index collected 13.78 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 3,638.54 after trading between 3,620.20 and 3,648.19. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell 0.48 percent, while CapitaLand Investment rose 0.34 percent, City Developments stumbled 0.93 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.67 percent, DBS Group climbed 1.18 percent, DFI Retail plummeted 3.12 percent, Genting Singapore shed 0.59 percent, Hongkong Land and UOL Group both lost 0.54 percent, Keppel DC REIT gained 0.46 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust improved 0.69 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust spiked 1.63 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dropped 0.69 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation advanced 1.10 percent, SATS retreated 1.08 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.15 percent, SembCorp Industries slid 0.37 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering and Venture Corporation both added 0.64 percent, SingTel plunged 2.06 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tanked 1.45 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Emperador, Thai Beverage and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday and largely remained that way throughout the session, finishing with mild gains.

The Dow added 61.29 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 42,124.65, while the NASDAQ rose 25.95 points or 0.14 percent to close at 17,974.27 and the S&P 500 gained 16.02 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,718.57.

The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflects optimism about the outlook for the economy following the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut last week.

The Fed is expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months amid signs of slowing inflation even as the economy remains relatively strong.

Overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of some key economic data later this week.

Crude oil prices were unable to hold early gains, slumping midday on demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell $0.47 or 0.66 percent to $70.53 per barrel.