Singapore Bourse May Extend Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,175-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive as soft U.S. economic data reinforced the case for an interest rate cut in June. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index rallied 37.62 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 3,176.69 after trading between 3,141.31 and 3,179.02.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT and SATS both added 1.10 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gathered 0.52 percent, CapitaLand Investment perked 0.35 percent, City Developments rallied 1.53 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.46 percent, DBS Group accelerated 2.33 percent, Emperador and DFI Retail both gained 0.97 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.96 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.31 percent, Keppel DC REIT lost 0.57 percent, Keppel Ltd soared 2.79 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust strengthened 1.47 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust improved 1.28 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 1.32 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Singapore Technologies Engineering both advanced 1.31 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 2.88 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.95 percent, Yangzijiang Financial skyrocketed 4.84 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.61 percent and SingTel, Thai Beverage and Seatrium Limited were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but climbed steadily throughout the day so that they all ended in the green.

The Dow jumped 348.85 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 38,773.12, while the NASDAQ added 47.03 points or 0.30 percent to close at 15,906.17 and the S&P 500 rose 29.11 points or 0.58 percent to end at 5,029.73.

The higher close on Wall Street came after a Commerce Department report showing a much bigger than expected decrease in U.S. retail sales in January led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve also released a report showing industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in January.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday as the dollar weakened after the weak retail sales data raised hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rallied $1.39 or 1.8 percent at $78.03 a barrel.