Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 30 points or 0.5 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 5.720-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to a renewed spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financial shares, communications companies and retailers were capped by weakness among the manufacturers and minerals.

For the day, the index gained 22.09 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 5,718.02 after trading between 5,677.79 and 5,725.56.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day, although well off session lows.

The Dow shed 152.09 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 52,421.20, while the NASDAQ sank 146.62 points or 0.56 percent to close at 26,186.41 and the S&P 500 fell 37.03 points or 0.48 percent to end at 7,619.98.

The pullback on Wall Street came amid a substantial rebound by the price of crude oil following news that a planned meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf states over reopening Hormuz has been postponed.

Crude oil prices jumped on Monday after Saudi Arabia confirmed closing its East-West pipeline following attacks by Houthi militants. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.52 or 1.52 percent at $101.57 per barrel.

Selling pressure in the tech sector has also been generated amid renewed worries about artificial intelligence after industry leaders called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development.

Traders are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy decision later this week. With oil prices surging and recent data pointing to stick inflation, CME Group's FedWatch tool is currently showing a nearly 90 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point.