Singapore Shares Poised To Open Under Water On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had tanked almost 180 points or 3.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,020-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative as hostilities in the Middle East tick higher. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asin bourses are likely to follow that lead.

The STI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index jumped 59.58 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 5,023.25 after trading between 4,964.66 and 5,026.76.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT shed 0.41 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.44 percent, CapitaLand Investment rallied 1.20 percent, City Developments gained 0.37 percent, DBS Group accelerated 1.59 percent, Genting Singapore sank 0.82 percent, Hongkong Land dipped 0.14 percent, Keppel Ltd increased 0.48 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust improved 0.85 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation spiked 1.71 percent, SATS strengthened 1.55 percent, SembCorp Industries vaulted 1.32 percent, Singapore Airlines advanced 1.17 percent, Singapore Exchange expanded 1.26 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.28 percent, SingTel soared 2.61 percent, Thai Beverage surged 3.53 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.56 percent, UOL Group fell 0.20 percent, Wilmar International climbed 1.19 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dropped 0.87 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Keppel DC REIT, Seatrium Limited, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and DFI Retail Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher but quickly tailed off into the red, although the Dow managed to creep back above water by the end of the day.

The Dow added 86.10 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 50,872.11, while the NASDAQ slumped 250.84 points or 0.97 percent to end at 25,678.82 and the S&P 500 slipped 19.08 points or 0.26 percent to end at 7,386.65.

The notable pullback by the NASDAQ came amid renewed weakness among tech stocks, which had regained some ground on Monday following last Friday's sell-off.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the sector lower before rebounding, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 1.9 percent, while computer hardware, networking and software stocks also moved significantly lower.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than anticipated in the month of May.

Crude oil prices plunged on Tuesday after Israel and Iran halted their exchange of attacks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $3.11 or 3.41 percent at $88.19 per barrel.

However, sentiment took a hit after the markets closed as the U.S. launched a fresh attack on Iran in response to the loss of a helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.