Overbought Singapore Shares Nonetheless Called Higher On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in six straight sessions, rallying almost 290 points or 7.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 3,800-point plateau and it's looking at another strong lead for Wednesday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism that the U.S. and China may scale back their tariff talk. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials came in mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 36.19 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 3,795.41 after trading between 3,739.40 and 3,823.31.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Hongkong Land both increased 0.95 percent, while CapitaLand Investment improved 1.15 percent, City Developments rallied 2.11 percent, Comfort DelGro strengthened 1.36 percent, DBS Group advanced 1.04 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.40 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.49 percent, Keppel Ltd and Venture Corporation both added 0.64 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust accelerated 1.67 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.50 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.80 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 4.26 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering soared 4.25 percent, SingTel climbed 1.33 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.96 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 2.14 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.78 percent and Emperador, Thai Beverage, SembCorp Industries, Mapletree Logistics Trust and SATS were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher and improved as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 1,016.57 points or 2.66 percent to finish at 39,186.98, while the NASDAQ rallied 429.52 points or 2.71 percent to close at 16,300.42 and the S&P 500 jumped 129.56 points or 2.51 percent to end at 5,287.76.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the steep drop on Monday, amid lingering trade war concerns and President Donald Trump's continued attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Further buying interest was generated in reaction to reports indicating Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit he expects the trade dispute between the U.S. and China to de-escalate.

The markets also benefitted from positive earnings news from the likes of 3M (MMM) and aircraft engine supplier GE Aerospace (GE), which both beat the street.

Crude oil moved sharply higher on Tuesday after the Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery surged $1.23 or 2.0 percent to $64.31 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release March numbers for consumer prices later today; in February, overall inflation was up 0.8 percent on month and 0.9 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 0.6 percent.