Singapore Bourse Expected To Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 90 points or 3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,060-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, fueled by solid earnings news among technology shares. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets are also tipped to open in the green.

The STI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index jumped 43.95 points or 1.46 percent to finish at 3,059.19 after trading between 3,025.93 and 3,071.38. Volume was 1.9 billion shares worth 1.6 billion Singapore dollars. There were 271 decliners and 247 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT added 0.38 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 1.56 percent, CapitaLand Investment plunged 3.19 percent, City Developments and Hongkong Land both dipped 0.26 percent, DBS Group spiked 2.96 percent, Emperador retreated 1.02 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.63 percent, Keppel Corp surged 4.66 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust climbed 0.60 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust skidded 0.89 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.65 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation jumped 1.78 percent, SATS declined 1.52 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.35 percent, SingTel rallied 1.66 percent, United Overseas Bank soared 4.00 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.55 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 4.41 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tanked 2.42 percent and Singapore Technologies Engineering, Thai Beverage, Comfort DelGro and UOL Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 828.50 points or 2.59 percent to finish at 32,861.80, while the NASDAQ soared 309.75 points or 2.87 percent to end at 11,102.45 and the S&P 500 jumped 93.76 points or 2.46 percent to close at 3,901.06.

For the week, the Dow spiked 5.7 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 4.0 percent and the NASDAQ rallied 2.2 percent.

Traders reacted positively to strong earnings news from the likes of semiconductor giant Intel (INTC), Apple (AAPL) and energy giant Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Buying interest may also have been generated by a Commerce Department report showing core consumer price growth accelerated less than expected in September - which may encourage the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of its interest rate hikes.

Oil prices drifted lower on Friday as worries about the outlook for energy demand resurfaced due to increased Covid-19 restrictions in parts of China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December slumped $1.18 or 1.3 percent at $87.90 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained more than 3 percent in the week.