Singapore Shares May Crack Resistance At 4,300 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market ticked higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the five-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 50 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 4,300-point plateau and it may see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials were offset by weakness from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 7.50 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 4,296.83 after trading between 4,292.06 and 4,305.13.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT eased 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 1.32 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 0.72 percent, City Developments slumped 1.04 percent, DBS Group gained 0.28 percent, DFI Retail Group skidded 0.92 percent, Genting Singapore improved 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land slipped 0.47 percent, Keppel DC REIT was down 0.43 percent, Keppel Ltd lost 0.69 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.81 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 1.07 percent, SATS dropped 0.91 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.65 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering advanced 0.89 percent, SingTel rose 0.23 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.56 percent, UOL Group retreated 1.49 percent, Yangzijiang Financial stumbled 1.87 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Thai Beverage, Wilmar International, Seatrium Limited and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and climbed steadily higher throughout the day, finishing at session high.

The Dow rallied 350.06 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 45,621.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 209.97 points or 0.98 percent to end at 21,707.69 and the S&P 500 gained 53.82 points or 0.83 percent to close at 6,502.08.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of August.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week.

While the reports add to recent signs of weakness in the labor market, the data has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday on rising oversupply concerns as OPEC plans to hike output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.63 or 0.98 percent at $63.34 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide July numbers for retail sales later today; in June, sales were down 1.2 percent on month and up 2.3 percent on year.