Singapore Stock Market May Erase Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,575-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, fueled by support from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index sank 23.50 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 3,575.69 after trading between 3,572.71 and 3,605.41.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both lost 0.47 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.98 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.84 percent, Comfort DelGro shed 0.68 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.03 percent, Emperador weakened 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore retreated 1.69 percent, Hongkong Land improved 0.73 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Mapletree Logistics Trust both slumped 1.38 percent, Keppel Ltd stumbled 1.80 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust surrendered 2.00 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust declined 1.61 percent, SATS fell 0.27 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.90 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.21 percent, SingTel added 0.32 percent, Thai Beverage plunged 2.80 percent, Wilmar International tanked 2.05 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 5.75 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding skidded 1.18 percent and Seatrium Limited and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed but quickly moved up into positive territory and stayed that way.

The Dow jumped 126.13 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 42,080.37, while the NASDAQ rallied 259.01 points or 1.45 percent to end at 18,182.92 and the S&P 500 advanced 55.19 points or 0.97 percent to close at 5,751.13.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders went shopping for bargains, especially among the technology companies.

In economic news, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $70.4 billion in August 2024, the lowest in five months, from an upwardly revised $78.9 billion in July. Exports increased 2 percent to a record high of $271.8 billion, while imports dropped 0.9 percent to $342.2 billion.

Data on U.S. consumer price and producer price inflation are due later in the week.

Oil prices tumbled Tuesday as supply disruptions concerns eased a bit on reports Israel is unlikely to attack Iranian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $3.57 or 4.63 percent at $73.57 a barrel.