Singapore Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than a dozen points or 0.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,280-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with earnings news likely to guide investors. The European and U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished barely lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financials, properties and trusts.

For the day, the index dipped 3.09 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 3,280.51 after trading between 3,273.79 and 3,291.01.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT slumped 0.72 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust jumped 1.47 percent, City Developments added 0.63 percent, Comfort DelGro climbed 0.88 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 1.50 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 2.24 percent, Keppel Corp perked 0.42 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust surged 2.86 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.44 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.32 percent, SATS and Venture Corporation both were up 0.34 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.29 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.58 percent, SingTel declined 1.21 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 0.70 percent, United Overseas Bank retreated 0.88 percent, Wilmar International sank 0.48 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding improved 0.83 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, DBS Group, Emperador, CapitaLand Investment, Yangzijiang Financial and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, saw a mild recovery but only the NASDAQ managed to end in the green.

The Dow tumbled 391.76 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 33,910.85, while the NASDAQ rose 15.96 points or 0.14 percent to end at 11,095.11 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.12 points or 0.20 percent to close at 3,990.97.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength.

A steep drop by Goldman Sachs (GS) weighed on the Dow after the company reported earnings that missed estimates. Travelers (TRV) also missed, while Morgan Stanley (MS) beat the street.

In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve noted a significant contraction in regional manufacturing activity in January.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday on expectations of a jump in demand following better than expected Chinese GDP data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.32 or 0.4 percent at $80.18 a barrel, the highest settlement since December 30.