Win Streak May End For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, gathering almost 170 points or 4.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,720-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed as countries weigh the results of the U.S. elections. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financials and plantations, while the industrials and trusts were mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 50.88 points or 1.39 percent to finish at 3,724.37 after trading between 3,685.96 and 3,742.82.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dipped 0.36 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.68 percent, DBS Group spiked 1.68 percent, Genting Singapore plummeted 5.95 percent, Hongkong Land tanked 2.53 percent, Keppel DC REIT improved 0.93 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.47 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust sank 0.80 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.78 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 1.13 percent, SATS plunged 3.27 percent, Seatrium Limited soared 2.04 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slumped 0.85 percent, SingTel jumped 1.56 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.98 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Financial rallied 1.27 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.88 percent and City Developments, SembCorp Industries, Emperador and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and all finished with modest gains to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 259.65 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 43,988.99, while the NASDAQ rose 17.32 points or 0.09 percent to close at 19,286.78 and the S&P 500 added 22.44 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,995.54.

For the week, the tech-heavy NASDAQ soared 5.7 percent, while the S&P 500 spiked 4.7 percent and the Dow rallied 4.6 percent.

Stocks continued to benefit from a positive reaction to former President Donald Trump's decisive victory in the U.S. presidential election, which is expected to be positive for corporations.

Traders also continued to digest the Federal Reserve's widely expected decision on Thursday to lower interest rates by a quarter-point. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that rates are not on any preset course and the central bank will make future decisions meeting by meeting.

Oil prices fell sharply Friday on concerns about the outlook for demand due to data showing a drop in China's oil imports, and disappointment over the size of China's fresh stimulus measures. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.98 or 2.7 percent at $70.38 a barrel; the contract gained 1 percent in the week.