Singapore Bourse Due For Profit Taking On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in seven straight sessions, improving almost 160 points or 5.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,260-point plateau although investors may cash in on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with oil and technology stocks expected to weigh. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index climbed 32.47 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 3,260.80 after trading between 3,226.83 and 3,279.10.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was up 0.20 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust perked 0.49 percent, CapitaLand Investment rose 0.56 percent, City Developments increased 1.49 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.73 percent, DBS Group added 0.20 percent, Emperador added 1.02 percent, Genting Singapore and UOL Group both strengthened 1.81 percent, Hongkong Land gathered 1.41 percent, Keppel Corp gained 0.97 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust surged 3.64 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust jumped 1.86 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.41 percent, SATS soared 3.02 percent, SembCorp Industries lost 0.66 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rallied 2.37 percent, SingTel spiked 2.60 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 1.65 percent, United Overseas Bank advanced 1.53 percent, Wilmar International improved 1.50 percent, Yangzijiang Financial skyrocketed 4.41 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding gained 0.72 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Monday, bounced higher in the afternoon but then a late swoon sent them all into the red at the close.

The Dow dropped 211.16 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 33,536.70, while the NASDAQ slumped 127.11 points or 1.12 percent to end at 11,196.22 and the S&P 500 lost 35.68 points or 0.89 percent to close at 3,957.25.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following last week's rally.

The lower close on the day came despite comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard that added to optimism about a slower pace of rate hikes.

Crude oil prices slumped Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China, a downward revision in demand growth forecast by OPEC and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $3.09 or 3.5 percent at $85.87 a barrel.