Singapore Shares May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, slumping more than 40 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,310-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday as the financials, properties and industrials all were mostly in the red.

For the day, the index slipped 11.16 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 4,312.62 after trading between 4,308.50 and 4,327.89.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT slumped 0.70 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 1.30 percent, CapitaLand Investment declined 0.73 percent, City Developments perked 0.15 percent, DBS Group and Mapletree Industrial Trust both sank 0.47 percent, DFI Retail Group retreated 1.20 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 1.32 percent, Hongkong Land stumbled 1.63 percent, Keppel DC REIT improved 0.84 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust skidded 0.70 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and SATS both dropped 0.60 percent, Seatrium Limited added 0.43 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.17 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 0.96 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.06 percent, UOL Group lost 0.13 percent, Wilmar International shed 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial advanced 0.85 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 1.59 percent and SingTel, Thai Beverage, Keppel Ltd, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Comfort DelGro and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.10 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 46,142.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 209.40 points or 0.94 percent to end at 22,470.72 and the S&P 500 gained 31.61 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,631.96.

Technology stocks led the markets higher amid a spike by shares of Intel (INTC), with the chipmaker skyrocketing by 22.8 percent to its best closing level in over a year.

The rally by Intel came after the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected last week. Also, the Conference Board said its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell more than expected in August.

Crude oil fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at a slowdown by the American economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.46 or 0.72 percent at $63.59 per barrel.