Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, improving almost 65 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,165-point plateau although it may see profit taking on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of key inflation data and on U.S. political uncertainty. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index gained 19.67 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 3,165.50 after trading between 3,143.81 and 3,169.45. Volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 1.1 billion Singapore dollars.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT strengthened 1.17 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust soared 1.60 percent, City Developments rose 0.51 percent, Comfort DelGro increased 0.74 percent, DBS Group was up 0.23 percent, Emperador climbed 1.04 percent, Genting Singapore gathered 0.62 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.20 percent, Keppel Corp climbed 0.28 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust gained 0.64 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rallied 1.40 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.67 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.82 percent, SATS spiked 1.49 percent, SembCorp Industries was up 0.33 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.90 percent, SingTel perked 0.39 percent, Thai Beverage surged 2.54 percent, United Overseas Bank advanced 1.01 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.25 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and CapitaLand Investment were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened modestly lower on Wednesday but saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 646.89 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 32,513.94, while the NASDAQ plunged 263.03 points or 2.48 percent to close at 10,353.17 and the S&P 500 sank 79.54 points or 2.08 percent to end at 3,748.57.

The sharply pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on recent strength in the markets amid lingering uncertainty about the results of the U.S. midterm elections as control of both houses of Congress remains unclear.

Traders may also be moving money out of stocks ahead today's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices tumbled Wednesday, weighed down by a jump in crude stockpiles, concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $3.08 or 3.5 percent at $85.83 a barrel, falling for the third consecutive session.