Singapore Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last up trading days since the end of ending the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than a dozen points or 0.25 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 5,000-point plateau and it's likely to extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on news of the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran - although the Asian markets have already reacted to this news, so the upside may be more measured than the spikes in the European and U.S. markets.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues. For the day, the index gained 38.04 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 4,996.05 after trading between 4,982.84 and 5,022.33. Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT jumped 2.80 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust climbed 2.60 percent, CapitaLand Investment increased 1.81 percent, City Developments spiked 4.12 percent Comfort DelGro, DBS Group picked up 1.13 percent, DFI Retail Group plunged 3.52 percent, Genting Singapore elevated 1.47 percent, Hongkong Land soared 4.16 percent, Keppel DC REIT strengthened 2.69 percent, Keppel Ltd added 2.35 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust gained 2.26 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust improved 2.56 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rose 1.71 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.09 percent, SATS surged 4.49 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.21 percent, SembCorp Industries slumped 1.03 percent, Singapore Airlines advanced 2.58 percent, Singapore Exchange dropped 0.79 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering expanded 0.35 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 3.53 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 1.22 percent, UOL Group accelerated 3.65 percent, Wilmar International gathered 1.53 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was up 0.76 percent and SingTel was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher and stayed that way throughout the trading day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,325.46 points or 2.85 percent to finish at 47,909.92, while the NASDAQ rallied 617.14 points or 2.80 percent to end at 22,634.99 and the S&P 500 jumped 165.96 points or 2.51 percent to close at 6,782.81.

The initial surge on Wall Street came in reaction to news that the U.S., Israel and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire.

President Donald Trump said he has agreed to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for two weeks subject to Tehran agreeing to the complete and immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

A subsequent statement from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened for a period of two weeks if the attacks against Iran are halted.

Crude oil prices went into a tailspin Wednesday as supply-disruption risks dissipated following a two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $18.15 or 16.07 percent at $94.80 per barrel.