Singapore Shares May Head South Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than a dozen points or 0.25 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 4,990-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to renewed tensions in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are also expected to open under pressure.

The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, weakness from the properties and retailers and a mixed picture from the industrials.

For the day, the index added 12.33 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 4,989.41 after trading between 4,973.10 and 4,999.30.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT added 0.40 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Keppel DC REIT both advanced 0.43 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.08 percent, City Developments fell 0.24 percent, DBS Group was up 0.26 percent, DFI Retail Group plummeted 4.88 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 0.74 percent, Keppel Ltd perked 0.08 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust climbed 0.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 1.26 percent, SATS dropped 0.55 percent, Seatrium Limited declined 0.81 percent, SembCorp Industries spiked 1.47 percent, Singapore Airlines lost 0.30 percent, Singapore Exchange surged 3.84 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.35 percent, SingTel tumbled 1.61 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 1.15 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.24 percent, UOL Group dipped 0.20 percent, Wilmar International tanked 1.28 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.50 percent and Genting Singapore, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and largely hugged the line throughout the trading day before ending little changed and on opposite sides.

The Dow dropped 269.23 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 47,916.57, while the NASDAQ gained 80.49 points or 0.35 percent to close at 22,902.89 and the S&P 500 slipped 7.77 points or 0.11 percent to end at 6,816.89.

For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.7 percent, the S&P rallied 3.6 percent and the Dow jumped 3.0 percent.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets came amid lingering about whether the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East will hold; peace negotiations over the weekend also failed to produce a result.

In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in April. Also, the Labor Department showed consumer prices advanced by 0.9 percent in March, in line with estimates.

Crude oil prices slumped Friday despite persistent tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $1.15 or 1.18 percent at $96.72 per barrel.