Rebound Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday snapped the modest two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,250-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the oversold Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting on the docket as window dressing before the end of the year. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the financial shares and industrial issues were mitigated by support from the property sector.

For the day, the index shed 17.73 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 3,249.24 after trading between 3,234.93 and 3,257.00.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.50 percent, while City Developments rose 0.12 percent, Comfort DelGro declined 0.81 percent, DBS Group retreated 0.79 percent, Genting Singapore and United Overseas Bank both sank 0.52 percent, Hongkong Land advanced 0.88 percent, Keppel Corp fell 0.14 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 0.63 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and SATS both tumbled 1.05 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.30 percent, SingTel retreated 0.78 percent, Thai Beverage plummeted 1.45 percent, Wilmar International tanked 1.18 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.45 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 1.44 percent and Ascendas REIT, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, SembCorp Industries, CapitaLand Investment, Emperador, Frasers Logistics and UOL Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher and remained firmly elevated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 345.09 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 33,220.80, while the NASDAQ spiked 264.80 points or 2.59 percent to end at 10,478.09 and the S&P 500 advanced 66.06 points or 1.75 percent to close at 3,849.28.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, particularly among tech stocks, which moved sharply lower over the two preceding sessions.

Overall trading activity remained subdued amid the holidays, however, with below average volume potentially exaggerating recent moves.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended December 24.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, although a weak dollar limited oil's downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.56 at $78.40 a barrel.