Singapore Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slipping almost 40 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,220-point plateau although it may find traction on Wednesday.

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 slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the industrials, gains from the trusts and a mixed picture from the banks.

For the day, the index sank 12.06 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 4,220.72 after trading between 4,216.01 and 4,248.73.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT sank 0.74 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust plunged 3.08 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 0.72 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.64 percent, DBS Group gained 0.41 percent, DFI Retail Group jumped 1.15 percent, Hongkong Land advanced 0.65 percent, Keppel DC REIT slumped 0.87 percent, Keppel Ltd plummeted 3.15 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust declined 1.00 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust skidded 0.86 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.77 percent, SATS lost 0.62 percent, Seatrium Limited stumbled 1.27 percent, SembCorp Industries tanked 2.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 0.70 percent, SingTel fell 0.25 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 1.05 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.34 percent, UOL Group was up 0.28 percent, Yangzijiang Financial rallied 1.54 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 0.35 percent and City Developments, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Wilmar International and Genting Singapore were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher and continued to accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 483.52 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 44,458.61, while the NASDAQ rallied 296.50 points or 1.39 percent to close at a record 21,681.90 and the S&P 500 climbed 72.31 points or 1.13 percent to end at 6,445.76, also a record.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched report on consumer price inflation for July, which was in line with expectations.

Despite the faster than expected annual core price growth, traders seem to believe the data increases the chances the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next month.

Following the release of the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 94.4 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point in September.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday ahead of an upcoming meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents on Friday in Alaska. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.88 or 1.38 percent at $63.08 per barrel.