Additional Support Anticipated For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market rebounded on Tuesday, one day after halting the two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 25 points or 0.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,200-point plateau and it's predicted to open in the green again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates and easing bond yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index improved 32.56 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 3,199.07 after trading between 3,182.47 and 3,202.83.

Among the actives, Comfort DelGro surged 3.10 percent, while Seatrium soared 2.40 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 2.26 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust accelerated 2.19 percent, City Development rallied 2.14 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.97 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 1.94 percent, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT climbed 1.89 percent, Wilmar International improved 1.65 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust increased 1.38 percent, SingTel advanced 1.26 percent, SembCorp Industries added 1.24 percent, DBS Group gained 1.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 1.05 percent, Emperador dropped 0.99 percent, Frasers Logistics and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both collected 0.93 percent, SATS gathered 0.79 percent, Genting Singapore perked 0.60 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Hongkong Land, Yangzijiang Financial, Jardine Matheson and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and accelerated as the day progressed, although late profit taking saw them end well off session highs.

The Dow climbed 134.65 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 33,739.30, while the NASDAQ gained 78.60 points or 0.58 percent to close at 13,562.84 and the S&P 500 added 22.58 points or 0.52 percent to end at 4,358.24.

Despite concerns about the ongoing war in the Middle East, the mood on Wall Street was fairly positive as dovish comments from some Federal Reserve officials lowered expectations for further interest rate hikes and pushed down bond yields.

In economic news, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its global growth forecast for next year, saying the projections are weakest in decades, while the likelihood of a soft-landing has increased with growing divergences amid modestly easing inflationary pressures.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday as traders assessed the likely impact of potential supply disruptions due to the ongoing war in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November shed $0.41 or 0.5 percent at $85.97 a barrel.