Renewed Consolidation Tipped For Singapore Shares

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market rebounded on Wednesday, one day after halting the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 20 points or 0.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 4,350-point plateau although it may tick lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses re likely to follow that lead.

The STI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology and telecom stocks, while the financials and industrials were mixed and the property sector was weak.

For the day, the index climbed 48.89 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 4,346.46 after trading between 4,295.18 and 4,355.84.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT added 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.72 percent, City Developments shed 0.60 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.68 percent, DBS Group surged 3.64 percent, DFI Retail Group tumbled 1.21 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 1.32 percent, Hongkong Land and Mapletree Industrial Trust both lost 0.47 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both fell 0.43 percent, Keppel Ltd rose 0.12 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust sank 0.70 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.54 percent, SATS dipped 0.31 percent, SembCorp Industries gained 0.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.01 percent, SingTel soared 1.64 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 1.06 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.25 percent, UOL Group plunged 1.99 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 2.70 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding climbed 0.95 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Seatrium Limited, Wilmar International and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and trended generally downward before finishing on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow stumbled 220.42 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,490.92, while the NASDAQ rose 6.57 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,886.06 and the S&P 500 added 19.43 points or 0.30 percent to end at 6,532.04.

The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing a modest decrease in U.S. producer prices in August. The data added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at next week's monetary policy meeting.

Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation later today - which may also have a significant effect on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, along with inflation data from the U.S. that has reinforced interest rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.07 or 1.71 percent at $63.70 per barrel.