Singapore Bourse May Add To Its Winnings On Thursday

(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 slide in which it had slipped almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,270-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financials, properties, industrials and trusts.

For the day, the index gained 8.60 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 3,271.51 after trading between 3,261.49 and 3,281.23.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment lost 0.27 percent, City Developments slid 0.13 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.63 percent, DBS Group collected 0.23 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 1.02 percent, Keppel Corp dipped 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust jumped 1.16 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.61 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 1.12 percent, SATS sank 0.71 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.29 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 0.88 percent, SingTel dropped 0.81 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 2.13 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.03 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.24 percent, Yangzijiang Financial soared 2.90 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 3.39 percent and Emperador, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Hongkong Land and UOL Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and mostly improved as the session progressed.

The Dow jumped 268.91 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 33,973.01, while the NASDAQ spiked 189.04 points or 1.76 percent to close at 10,931.67 and the S&P 500 advanced 50.36 points or 1.28 percent to end at 3,969.61.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the highly anticipated consumer price inflation report due later today.

The report is expected to show a slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth and could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday on hopes for a global economic recovery and the possible impact of sanctions on Russian crude output. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February jumped by $2.29 or 3.1 percent at $77.41 a barrel, rising for a fifth straight session.