Singapore Bourse Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after halting the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,135-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on geopolitical concerns and the dimming outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, plantation stocks, properties and industrials.

For the day, the index slumped 35.21 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 3,136.62 after trading between 3,132.49 and 3,168.34.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tumbled 2.95 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 1.65 percent, CapitaLand Investment slumped 1.94 percent, City Developments dropped 1.50 percent, Comfort DelGro slid 0.76 percent, DBS Group eased 0.30 percent, Genting Singapore was down 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land sank 1.43 percent, Keppel Corp tanked 3.36 percent, Keppel DC REIT plummeted 4.21 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 2.90 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 1.35 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 3.75 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.92 percent, SATS surrendered 3.11 percent, Seatrium Limited stumbled 2.75 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 2.75 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 1.27 percent, Wilmar International added 0.28 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dipped 0.65 percent and SingTel, Thai Beverage, Yangzijiang Financial and Emperador were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the day.

The Dow tumbled 332.57 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 33,665.08, while the NASDAQ dropped 219.44 points or 1.39 percent to close at 13,314.30 and the S&P 500 sank 58.60 points or 1.34 percent to end at 4,314.60.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid rising tensions in the Middle East after a deadly missile attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza killed several hundred people.

Hamas tried to attribute the blast to an Israeli airstrike, but the Israeli military said with some evidence it was not involved and the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.

Higher bond yields added to the negative sentiment raising concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in September.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday on rising concerns over supplies as geopolitical concerns escalated after the large explosion at the Gaza hospital. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November jumped $1.66 or 1.9 percent at $88.32 a barrel.