Singapore Stock Market May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, shedding almost 35 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,555-point plateau although it's due for support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on solid earnings news and renewed optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the industrials, gains from the properties and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 3.45 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,555.43 after trading between 3,524.33 and 3,556.29.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rallied 0.50 percent, while CapitaLand Investment spiked 1.07 percent, City Developments advanced 0.38 percent, DBS Group added 0.23 percent, Genting Singapore soared 1.20 percent, Hongkong Land surged 3.94 percent, Keppel DC REIT dropped 0.87 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust retreated 1.53 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.75 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.07 percent, SATS jumped 0.76 percent, SembCorp Industries slumped 1.19 percent, SingTel skidded 0.96 percent, Thai Beverage plummeted 5.66 percent, Wilmar International tanked 3.75 percent, Yangzijiang Financial declined 1.25 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.94 percent and Seatrium Limited, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Emperador, Comfort DelGro, Keppel Ltd, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and DFI Retail Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 288.73 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 42,052.19, while the NASDAQ added 144.77 points of 0.80 percent to end at 18,239.92 and the S&P 500 rose 23.35 points or 0.41 percent to close at 5,728.80.

For the week, the Dow eased 0.2 percent, the S&P slumped 1.4 percent and the NASDAQ stumbled 1.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like Intel (INTC) and Amazon (AMZN).

Traders also digested the Labor Department's closely watched jobs report, which showed weaker than expected job growth in October. The data raised some concerns about the strength of the economy, but the report also led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday amid concerns about tensions in the Middle East after a report said Iran is planning further attacks on Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.23 or 0.33 percent at $69.49 a barrel.