Additional Support Anticipated For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 40 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,265-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast is upbeat on an improving outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index perked 1.42 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 3,265.95 after trading between 3,241.13 and 3,267.97.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.52 percent, while CapitaLand Investment lost 0.39 percent, City Developments fell 0.34 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.69 percent, DBS Group rose 0.31 percent, Emperador climbed 1.15 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.24 percent, Keppel DC REIT added 0.57 percent, Keppel Ltd slumped 0.75 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust increased 0.82 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 0.46 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dropped 0.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 1.16 percent, SATS declined 1.17 percent, SembCorp Industries eased 0.19 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.54 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding improved 0.58 percent and DFI Retail Group, Genting Singapore, Singapore Technologies Engineering, SingTel, Thai Beverage and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but quickly bounced higher and spent the rest of the day in positive territory.

The Dow jumped 331.36 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 39,387.76, while the NASDAQ gained 43.46 points or 0.27 percent to close at 16,346.26 and the S&P 500 added 26.41 points or 0.51 percent to end at 5,214.08.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing a bigger than expected increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

The data added to recently renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

While the Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged in June, the chances rates will be lower by September have reached 89.3 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Oil prices moved higher on Thursday, lifted by optimism about the outlook for demand and on recent data showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.27 at $79.26 a barrel.