Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Monday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 40 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,255-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the health of the global economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financial shares and property stocks were dented by weakness from the trusts and a mixed picture from the industrials. For the day, the index gained 15.80 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 3,256.61 after trading between 3,239.50 and 3,273.35. Among the actives, Ascendas REIT retreated 0.74 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment climbed 0.83 percent, City Developments was up 0.12 percent, DBS Group advanced 0.80 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.07 percent, Hongkong Land soared 2.00 percent, Keppel Corp fell 0.27 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tumbled 1.80 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust declined 0.90 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.16 percent, SATS gained 0.71 percent, SembCorp Industries gathered 0.30 percent, SingTel surged 2.36 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.78 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.49 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 1.45 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.72 percent and Singapore Technologies Engineering, Thai Beverage, Comfort DelGro, Emperador and UOL Group were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages fluctuated early Monday but then headed well into the red and finished under pressure.

The Dow dropped 162.92 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 32,757.54, while the NASDAQ retreated 159.38 points or 1.49 percent to close at 10,546.03 and the S&P 500 slumped 34.70 points or 0.90 percent to end at 3,817.66.

The extended weakness on Wall Street came as traders continue to express concerns about the outlook for the economy. The Federal Reserve said it will continue raising interest rates next year, leading to worries the aggressive policy tightening will tip the economy into a recession.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders reported that homebuilder confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a continued deterioration in December.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about increased demand for oil from China after the country relaxed certain COVID-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.91 or 1.25 percent at $75.20 a barrel.