Continued Consolidation Called For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 25 points or 0.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,285-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over interest rates and the economy. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and industrials, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index slipped 11.71 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 3,286.12 after trading between 3,278.21 and 3,302.95.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT retreated 1.05 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment declined 1.07 percent, City Developments was down 0.27 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.83 percent, DBS Group fell 0.46 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.86 percent, Keppel Corp retreated 0.85 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust shed 0.55 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.84 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.39 percent, SATS tanked 1.41 percent, SembCorp Industries plummeted 2.31 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering plunged 1.88 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 0.77 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.17 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.72 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.32 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Emperador, Genting Singapore, SingTel, Keppel DC REIT and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before finally settling in the red.

The Dow shed 38.29 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 33,646.50, while the NASDAQ slumped 102.54 points or 0.85 percent to end at 11,929.34 and the S&P 500 lost 16.99 points or 0.41 percent to close at 4,091.95.

Stocks initially benefited from a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected in the month of March.

Stocks turned lower over the course of the morning, however, as many economists said they still expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by another quarter point early next month.

While buying interest reemerged later in the session, stocks moved back to the downside after the minutes of the latest Fed meeting suggested the recent banking sector turmoil could lead to a recession.

Crude oil prices moved spiked on Wednesday as tamer-than-expected inflation data contributed to an extended pullback in the value of the U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.1 percent to $83.26 a barrel.