Renewed Consolidation Likely For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,270-point plateau although it's expected to head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns for the economy and for the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and trusts were capped by weakness from the industrials and properties.

For the day, the index rose 8.40 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 3,267.54 after trading between 3,256.45 and 3,283.17. Volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 1.1 billion Singapore dollars. There were 400 gainers and 196 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT jumped 1.45 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 0.99 percent, CapitaLand Investment strengthened 1.36 percent, City Developments and Hongkong Land both dipped 0.24 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 1.61 percent, DBS Group rose 0.09 percent, Genting Singapore improved 0.57 percent, Keppel Corp lost 0.52 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust spiked 1.82 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust soared 2.27 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 1.25 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.25 percent, SATS skyrocketed 6.37 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.91 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering and United Overseas Bank both collected 0.29 percent, SingTel added 0.37 percent, Thai Beverage surged 3.13 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dropped 0.70 percent and Emperador, Yangzijiang Financial, UOL Group and Wilmar International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened modestly lower and the losses accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 482.78 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 33,947.10, while the NASDAQ slumped 221.56 points or 1.93 percent to close at 11,239.94 and the S&P 500 sank 72.86 points or 1.79 percent to end at 3,998.84.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following last Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs data.

While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes next week, continued labor market tightness and elevated inflation may still lead the central bank to raise rates higher than currently anticipated. A drop in treasuries compounded the uncertainty.

Adding to the worries about where rates will peak, the Institute for Supply Management said that U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly accelerated in November.

Oil prices fell on Monday as strong U.S. service data raised the prospects for more aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for January ended lower by $3.05 or 3.8 percent at $76.93 a barrel.