Singapore Stock Market May Reclaim 3,600-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has ticked lower in consecutive trading days, although it has given up just over 5 points or 0.15 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,590-point plateau although it figures to stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial shares were tempered by support from the industrials and properties.

For the day, the index dipped 4.85 points or 0.13 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,590.62 after trading between 3,614.57.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.48 percent, while CapitaLand Investment skidded 1.00 percent, City Developments rallied 0.97 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.69 percent, DBS Group slumped 1.02 percent, DFI Retail Group surged 3.81 percent, Emperador stumbled 1.16 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.27 percent, Keppel DC REIT tumbled 1.32 percent, Keppel Ltd sank 0.31 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.41 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.71 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.26 percent, SATS perked 0.27 percent, Seatrium Limited spiked 1.52 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.55 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 0.22 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.21 percent, Yangzijiang Financial declined 1.20 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 2.34 percent and SingTel, Thai Beverage, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Genting Singapore and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly headed higher and finished well in positive territory.

The Dow rallied 337.28 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 43,077.70, while the NASDAQ gained 51.49 points or 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 added 27.21 points or 0.47 percent to end at 5,842.47.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on continued optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of the release of several key reports later this week including weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a continued decrease by prices for U.S. imports and exports in September.

Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about weak demand from China and easing geopolitical worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 at $70.39 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see September figures for non-oil domestic exports this morning; in August, NODX was down 4.7 percent on month and up 10.7 percent on year, with a trade surplus of SGD5.90 billion.