Rebound Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the five-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 50 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 4,290-point plateau although it may find renewed support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology shares expected to lead the way. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move to the upside.

The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and industrial issues, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 9.18 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 4,289.33 after trading between 4,281.31 and 4,299.40.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT and CapitaLand Investment both added 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.44 percent, City Developments dipped 0.15 percent, Comfort DelGro and SingTel both dropped 0.68 percent, DBS Group sank 0.61 percent, DFI Retail Group strengthened 1.56 percent, Hongkong Land improved 0.63 percent, Keppel DC REIT tanked 1.28 percent, Keppel Ltd slumped 0.69 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust stumbled 1.43 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.81 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.30 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.81 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.05 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.11 percent, UOL Group climbed 1.38 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding lost 0.33 percent and SATS, Seatrium Limited, Genting Singapore, Yangzijiang Financial, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the line and finished the same way.

The Dow slipped 24.58 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 45,271.23, while the NASDAQ rallied 218.10 points or 1.02 percent to end at 21,497.73 and the S&P 500 added 32.72 points or 0.51 percent to close at 6,448.26.

The notable rebound by the NASDAQ followed a surge by shares of Alphabet (GOOGL), which rallied after a federal judge ruled the company will avoid the most severe consequences in a landmark antitrust case.

The strength on Wall Street also came after the Labor Department released a report showing job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in 10 months in July.

While the data provides further signs of softening labor market conditions, the report has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid increasing concerns of oversupply due to reported plans by OPEC to boost output at its upcoming meeting on Sunday. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $1.65 or 2.52 percent at $63.94 per barrel.