Singapore Shares May Run Out Of Steam On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has ticked higher in consecutive trading days, collecting almost 10 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,265-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid concerns over the health of the world economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished barely higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index perked 0.59 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 3,266.97 after trading between 3,256.24 and 3,270.33. Volume was 826.7 million shares worth 521.1 million Singapore dollars. There were 274 gainers and 215 decliners.

Among the actives, City Developments slumped 0.73 percent, while DBS Group and Venture Corporation both fell 0.29 percent, DFI Retail surged 3.78 percent, Emperador climbed 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 1.06 percent, Hongkong Land lost 0.44 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.54 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.16 percent, SembCorp Industries gained 0.30 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 0.59 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.73 percent, United Overseas Bank rose 0.10 percent, Wilmar International soared 1.44 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.43 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.72 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, SATS, SingTel, Comfort DelGro and Frasers Logistics all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages shook off a slightly higher open on Wednesday, quickly heading south and finishing firmly in the red.

The Dow tumbled 365.85 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 32,875.71, while the NASDAQ slumped 139.94 points or 1.35 percent to close at 10,213.29 and the S&P 500 sank 46.03 points or 1.20 percent to end at 3,783.22.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the economic outlook and the possibility of higher interest rates leading to a recession.

However, with many traders away from their desks amid the holidays, the sell-off on Wall Street may have been exaggerated by below average volume.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a continued slump in U.S. pending home sales in November.

Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid fears of a global recession and rising COVID-19 cases in China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.57 or 0.7 percent at $78.86 a barrel.