Singapore Bourse Tipped To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 25 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,255-point plateau although it's due for support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with gains likely limited by profit taking from the oil and technology sectors. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 3.03 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 3,253.79 after trading between 3,243.96 and 3,259.92. Volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 1.4 billion Singapore dollars. There were 264 decliners and 234 gainers.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.47 percent, while CapitaLand Investment spiked 2.35 percent, City Developments soared 2.60 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.68 percent, DBS Group retreated 1.49 percent, Genting Singapore sank 0.62 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.20 percent, Keppel Corp lost 0.29 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tumbled 1.55 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 0.74 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.56 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.16 percent, SATS surged 2.95 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 1.57 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 1.00 percent, SingTel rallied 2.26 percent, Thai Beverage strengthened 1.52 percent, United Overseas Bank declined 1.18 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.73 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 2.78 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slumped 1.06 percent and Ascendas REIT, Singapore Exchange and DFI Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the unchanged line, rallied mid-day but still finished the same way.

The Dow jumped 239.57 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 34,152.01, while the NASDAQ fell 25.50 points or 0.19 percent to close at 13,102.55 and the S&P 500 rose 8.06 points or 0.19 percent to end at 4,305.20.

The continued advance by the Dow was partly due to strong gains by Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) after both companies reported better than expected second quarter results.

Buying interest may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Federal Reserve showing U.S. industrial production increased more than expected in July.

Traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing new residential construction tumbled by much more than expected last month.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on worries about the outlook for energy demand and on a potential increase in supply from OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $2.88 or 3.2 percent at $86.53 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release July numbers for non-oil exports later this morning, with forecasts suggesting a drop of 3.8 percent on month and an increase of 6.0 percent on year. That follows the 3.7 percent monthly increase and the 9.0 percent yearly spike in June, when the trade surplus was SGD4.49 billion.