Rebound Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market moved lower again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,205-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with bargain hunting expected to support the more oversold bourses. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index lost 18.84 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 3,207.75 after trading between 3,204.66 and 3,225.77.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT advanced 0.72 percent, while Comfort DelGro dropped 0.79 percent, DBS Group fell 0.54 percent, Hongkong Land rose 0.28 percent, Keppel Corp and SembCorp Industries both lost 0.58 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust shed 0.67 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.43 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.60 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation tumbled 1.35 percent, SATS retreated 1.16 percent, Seatrium Limited sank 0.71 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slid 0.52 percent, SingTel and Thai Beverage both declined 0.85 percent, Wilmar International slumped 0.82 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 2.82 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 1.17 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, City Developments and UOL Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened in the green on Friday and spent all of the day in positive territory, although they ended well off session highs.

The Dow gained 75.89 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 34,576.59, while the NASDAQ rose 12.73 points or 0.09 percent to close at 13,761.53 and the S&P 500 gained 6.35 points or 0.14 percent to end at 4,457.49. For the week, the NASDAQ tumbled 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 slumped 1.3 percent and the Dow slid 0.8 percent.

The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, as some traders pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness. The uptick by the NASDAQ snapped a four-day losing streak.

Some traders may also have felt concerns about the outlook for interest rates, which contributed to the recent weakness, have been overdone.

While recent economic data has led to worries the Federal Reserve may leave rates higher for longer than previously anticipated, the central bank is still widely expected to keep rates unchanged later this month.

Crude oil prices climbed on Friday amid concerns about tightening oil supplies following Russia and Saudi Arabia's decision last week to extend their supply cut to the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October rose $0.64 or 0.7 percent at $87.51 a barrel.