Singapore Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 30 points or 1 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,180-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat, with support from the energy stocks likely offset by weakness from the technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished barely lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index eased 0.87 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 3,180.47 after trading between 3,175.48 and 3,209.76. Volume was 976.7 million shares worth 770.8 million Singapore dollars. There were 217 decliners and 212 gainers. Among the actives, Ascendas REIT and DFI Retail both lost 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.48 percent, CapitaLand Investment soared 2.08 percent, City Developments rose 0.13 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.69 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.41 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 0.76 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up 0.17 percent, SATS slumped 1.25 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.67 percent, Singapore Exchange improved 0.31 percent, SingTel retreated 1.13 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 0.79 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.15 percent, Wilmar International increased 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial declined 1.27 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Keppel Corp, Genting Singapore, DBS Group, Mapletree Commercial Trust and Singapore Technologies Engineering were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened flat on Monday and then bounced up and down throughout the session before finishing mixed.

The Dow climbed 90.75 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 31,990.04, while the NASDAQ lost 51.45 points or 0.43 percent to close at 11,782.67 and the S&P 500 rose 5.14 points or 0.13 percent to end at 3,966.77.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

CME Group's FedWatch tool is currently indicating a 77.5 percent chance of a 75-basis point interest rate hike and a 22.5 percent chance of a 100-basis point rate hike.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Monday as concerns about outlook for energy demand eased, while the dollar's weakness ahead of the upcoming Fed statement also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $2.00 or 2.1 percent at $96.70 a barrel. Closer to home, Singapore will provide June data for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 5.8 percent on month and an increase of 5.7 percent on year. That follows the 10.9 percent monthly jump and the 13.8 percent annual spike in May.