Singapore Shares May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had risen 7 points or 0.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 4,470-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved 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 sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index sank 42.73 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 4,469.14 after trading between 4,461.14 and 4,494.58.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT lost 1.07 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slipped 0.85 percent, CapitaLand Investment was down 0.76 percent, City Developments crashed 3.15 percent, Comfort DelGro stumbled 2.04 percent, DBS Group gave up 0.33 percent, DFI Retail Group slid 0.29 percent, Genting Singapore plunged 2.65 percent, Hongkong Land added 0.48 percent, Keppel DC REIT declined 1.70 percent, Keppel Ltd retreated 1.79 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust dropped 1.38 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust and SATS both slumped 1.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dipped 0.78 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 1.04 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.89 percent, SembCorp Industries cratered 3.65 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tanked 2.55 percent, SingTel skidded 1.46 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.15 percent, UOL Group contracted 1.51 percent, Wilmar International sank 1.22 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 3.00 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 1.18 percent and Thai Beverage was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Friday but rallied in the afternoon, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 493.15 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 46,245.41, while the NASDAQ rallied 195.03 points or 0.88 percent to end at 22,273.08 and the S&P 500 gained 64.23 points or 0.98 percent to close at 6,602.99.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.7 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the Dow slumped 1.9 percent.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected renewed optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting in December following dovish remarks by New York Federal Reserve President John Williams.

Potentially adding to the optimism about the outlook for interest rates, the University of Michigan released a report showing decreases by both year-ahead inflation and long-run inflation expectations in November.

Crude oil prices slumped Friday on oversupply concerns after Ukraine expressed support for the U.S. peace plan to stop the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down by $0.86 or 1.46 percent at $58.14 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release October figures for consumer prices later today. In September, overall inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 0.4 percent.