Singapore Bourse Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,320-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside with earnings optimism offset by interest rate jitters. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the properties and mixed performances from the financials and industrials.

For the day, the index gained 16.60 points or 0.50 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,319.26 after moving as low as 3,299.28.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment perked 0.27 percent, while City Developments gained 0.68 percent, Comfort DelGro soared 1.67 percent, DBS Group advanced 0.86 percent, Emperador climbed 0.98 percent, Hongkong Land added 0.69 percent, Keppel Corp surged 2.54 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rallied 1.10 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust increased 0.56 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.31 percent, SATS slid 0.36 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.47 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.83 percent, SingTel jumped 1.20 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.27 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.81 percent and Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Genting Singapore, Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Venture Corporation, Frasers Logistics and Keppel DC REIT all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday, slipped into the red midday but bounced back into positive territory heading into the close.

The Dow climbed 100.71 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 33,987.18, while the NASDAQ added 34.26 points or 0.28 percent to close at 12,157.72 and the S&P 500 rose 13.68 points or 0.33 percent to end at 4,151.32.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates seemed to spook investors after Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said that he wants to see more evidence of inflation settling back to target before calling interest rate hikes finished.

But he added that he feels reassured by what he is seeing in the banking sector in terms of stability after a couple of solvency issues by individual banks last month.

In economic news, the National Association of Home Builders said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index in the U.S. increased to 45 in April, rising for a fourth month in a row.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand, while uncertainty about interest rate hikes and the dollar's rise against other currencies also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May sank $1.69 or 2.1 percent at $80.83 a barrel.