Singapore Bourse Poised To Add To Its Winnings

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, advancing almost 110 points or 3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,560-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the prospects for an interest rate cut this week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index added 6.12 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 3,562.65 after trading between 3,556.30 and 3,572.84.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.47 percent, while CapitaLand Investment lost 0.35 percent, City Developments added 0.56 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.67 percent, DBS Group rose 0.37 percent, Emperador spiked 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 3.20 percent, Keppel DC REIT rallied 0.92 percent, Keppel Ltd strengthened 0.65 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.40 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust jumped 0.69 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.20 percent, Seatrium Limited climbed 0.61 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.19 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering soared 1.30 percent, SingTel fell 0.30 percent, Thai Beverage accelerated 0.96 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.45 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.23 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, SATS and Wilmar International were unchanged.

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

The Dow rallied 296.98 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 41,393.78, while the NASDAQ jumped 114.28 points or 0.65 percent to end at 17,683.98 and the S&P 500 gained 30.26 points or 0.54 percent to close at 5,626.02.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 6.0 percent, the S&P spiked 4.0 percent and the Dow improved 2.6 percent.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week. The Fed is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday and is almost universally expected to lower interest rates by at least 25 basis points.

Adding to the positive sentiment on Wall Street, the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by more than anticipated in September.

Oil futures drifted lower on Friday on reports crude oil production resumed in several facilities along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $0.32 or 0.46 percent at $68.65 a barrel.