Singapore Bourse Due For Profit Taking On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 100 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 4,260-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, clouded by conflicting reports on U.S. tariffs. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to tick lower on profit taking.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index gained 30.45 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 4,258.15 after trading between 4,233.13 and 4,265.44.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT gathered 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rose 0.44 percent, CapitaLand Investment advanced 0.72 percent, City Developments surged 2.88 percent, Comfort DelGro gained 0.65 percent, DBS Group spiked 1.84 percent, DFI Retail Group and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both perked 0.29 percent, Genting Singapore and Jardine Matheson both added 0.67 percent, Hongkong Land strengthened 1.32 percent, Keppel Ltd improved 1.29 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rallied 1.52 percent, SATS increased 1.25 percent, Seatrium Limited accelerated 1.71 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 1.30 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering was up 0.11 percent, Thai Beverage soared 2.15 percent, United Overseas Bank stumbled 1.76 percent, UOL Group jumped 1.43 percent, Wilmar International sank 0.67 percent, Yangzijiang Financial collected 1.03 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding skyrocketed 7.98 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Keppel DC REIT and SingTel were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but quickly slumped and then spent the day hugging the line, ending little changed and on opposite sides.

The Dow stumbled 224.48 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 43,968.64, while the NASDAQ gained 73.27 points or 0.35 percent to close at 21,242.70 and the S&P 500 fell 5.06 points or 0.08 percent to end at 6,340.00.

The early strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips but said companies that are building in the United States would be exempt.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continued to express concerns about the economic impact of Trump's trade policies as new tariffs on dozens of countries took effect on Thursday.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. Also, the Labor Department noted a significant rebound by labor productivity in the second quarter.

Crude oil prices fell Thursday on inconsistency in the U.S. stance on Russia and it's invasion on Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.49 or 0.76 percent at $63.86 per barrel.