Little Movement Expected For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Hari Raya Haji, the Stngapore stock market ended the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 25 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 5,030-point plateau and it figures to hold steady in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, thanks mostly to easing oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index slumped 41.75 points or 0.82 percent to finish at the daily low of 5,028.80 after peaking at 5,072.08.

Among the actives, City Developments tanked 2.49 percent, while DBS Group fell 0.29 percent, DFI Retail Group plummeted 3.34 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 2.88 percent, Keppel DC REIT lost 0.44 percent, Keppel Ltd tumbled 2.08 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.64 percent, SATS surged 5.64 percent, Seatrium Limited shed 0.45 percent, SembCorp Industries slipped 0.16 percent, Singapore Airlines eased 0.15 percent, Singapore Exchange surrendered 2.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 0.98 percent, SingTel slumped 1.32 percent, Thai Beverage contracted 1.10 percent, United Overseas Bank sank 0.50 percent, UOL Group stumbled 1.93 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.68 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding declined 1.33 percent and CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Genting Singapore and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the line before ending little changed with a slight upside bias - but enough for all three to hit record closing highs..

The Dow climbed 182.60 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 50,644.28, while the NASDAQ added 18.55 points or 0.07 percent to close at 26,674.73 and the S&P 500 perked 1.24 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,520.36.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength, while optimism about an eventual end to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues weigh on oil prices.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday as investors continue to anticipate a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, despite the hard line from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $5.05 or 5.38 percent at $88.84 per barrel.

Traders may also have been somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data later today, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.