Singapore Shares Poised To Open To The Upside On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Monday halted the six-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 120 points or 2.9 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 4,200-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on bargain hunting and optimism for an interest rate cut. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains among the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index climbed 43.40 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 4,197.23 after trading between 4,144.89 and 4,202.02.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT accelerated 2.19 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 2.28 percent, CapitaLand Investment gained 1.45 percent, City Developments rallied 2.12 percent, DBS Group gathered 0.61 percent, DFI Retail Group increased 0.29 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 2.04 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 1.69 percent, Keppel DC REIT expanded 1.75 percent, Keppel Ltd perked 0.48 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust skyrocketed 3.13 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust sank 0.50 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust both strengthened 1.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation improved 0.66 percent, SATS fell 0.31 percent, Seatrium Limited gained 1.30 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 2.76 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering increased 1.50 percent, SingTel soared 2.56 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 1.08 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.83 percent, UOL Group expanded 1.16 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial improved 1.59 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 1.58 percent and Comfort DelGro was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened solidly higher on Monday and closed in similar fashion, cutting into Friday's steep losses.

The Dow jumped 585.06 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 44,173.64, while the NASDAQ rallied 403.45 points or 1.95 percent to end at 21,053.58 and the S&P 500 gained 91.93 points or 1.47 percent to close at 6,329.94.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent sell-off, which saw the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 pull back well off their record highs.

The steep drop last Friday came amid concerns about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs, weaker than expected jobs data and a slump by shares of Amazon (AMZN).

Optimism the weak jobs data will lead the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next month also contributed to the buying interest. According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the chances of a quarter point rate cut in September have jumped to 91.9 percent from 63.1 percent a week ago.

Crude oil continued to decline on Monday thanks to oversupply concerns and fears of a tariff-induced slowdown by the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.06 or 1.57 percent at $66.27 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide June figures for retail sales later today; in May, sales were up 1.0 percent on month and 1.4 percent on year.