Renewed Support Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) – The Singapore stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after snapping the three-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 25 points or 0.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,050-point plateau although it’s likely to climb higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on easing inflation concerns and support from crude oil. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dropped 35.59 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 3,051.11 after trading between 3,044.73 and 3,076.88. Volume was 990.3 million shares worth 1.07 billion Singapore dollars. There were 248 decliners and 137 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was down 0.67 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust eased 0.49 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.45 percent, Dairy Farm International surrendered 1.17 percent, DBS Group sank 1.15 percent, Genting Singapore retreated 1.39 percent, Keppel Corp slid 0.77 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust lost 0.97 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 1.96 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 1.13 percent, SATS skidded 1.44 percent, Singapore Airlines shed 0.99 percent, Singapore Exchange tanked 1.70 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering weakened 0.79 percent, SingTel declined 1.22 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.85 percent, Wilmar International plummeted 2,14 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dipped 0.72 percent and SembCorp Industries, Thai Beverage, Singapore Press Holdings, Comfort DelGro and CapitaLand were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages shook off early uncertainty on Friday to finish solidly in positive territory.

The Dow spiked 482.56 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 34,326.46, while the NASDAQ jumped 118.10 points or 0.82 percent to close at 14,556.70 and the S&P 500 gained 49.50 points or 1.15 percent to end at 4,357.04.

For the week, the Dow slid 1.4 percent, the NASDAQ lost 3.2 percent and the S&P fell 2.2 percent. For the month of September, the Dow tumbled by 4.3 percent, and the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 plummeted by 5.3 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.

The higher close on Wall Street came as bargain hunting won out over concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve scaling back asset purchases. The major averages showed wild swings in morning trading but eventually sustained a move to upside as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following a disappointing September.

An extended pullback by treasury yields may also have generated buying interest on Wall Street, with the ten-year yield continuing to give ground after reaching a three-month closing high on Wednesday.

Crude oil prices recovered after a weak start and settled higher Friday ahead of this week’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.85 or 1.1 percent at $75.88 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 2.6 percent in the week.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.