Singapore Bourse May Test Support At 3,300 Points

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Wesak Day, the Singapore stock market had ended the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 25 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,310-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losses on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on a dimming outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and industrial issues, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 6.15 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 3,307.90 after trading between 3,293.93 and 3,314.30.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust climbed 1.02 percent, while CapitaLand Investment tumbled 1.47 percent, City Developments advanced 0.86 percent, DBS Group lost 0.34 percent, Emperador jumped 1.18 percent, Genting Singapore sank 0.55 percent, Hongkong Land declined 0.86 percent, Keppel DC REIT dropped 0.56 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust slumped 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slid 0.21 percent, SATS retreated 1.17 percent, SembCorp Industries skidded 0.76 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 0.24 percent, SingTel shed 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 1.01 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.57 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Yangzijiang Financial, Seatrium Limited and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages spent the first half of Wednesday hugging the line before stumbling into the red late in the day.

The Dow tumbled 201.95 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 39,671.04, while the NASDAQ dropped 31.08 points or 0.18 percent to close at 16,801.54 and the S&P 500 fell 14.40 points or 0.27 percent to end at 5,307.01.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as the Fed minutes suggested officials expect to maintain interest rates at current levels longer than previously thought.

The minutes of the April 30-May 1 meeting said participants highlighted disappointing readings on inflation over the first quarter and indicators pointing to strong economic momentum.

While officials also discussed reducing policy restraint in the event of an unexpected weakening in labor market conditions, participants also noted a willingness to raise rates further of necessary should risks to inflation materialize.

Oil prices fell to a two-month low on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected rebound in crude oil inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.57 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide Q1 numbers for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.1 percent on quarter and 2.7 percent on year. That follows the 1.2 percent quarterly increase and the 2.2 percent yearly gain in the previous three months.

Singapore also will see April figures for consumer prices, with annual overall inflation expected to rise 2.6 percent - easing from 2.7 percent in March. Core CPI is called steady at an annual 3.1 percent.