Singapore Stock Market Expected To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, sinking more than 135 points or 4.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,100-point plateau and it's predicted to open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests further consolidation on worldwide recession fears. The European and U.S. markets finished with deep losses and the Asian bourse are also tipped to open in the red.

The STI finished slightly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index slipped 8.42 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 3,097.43 after trading between 3,094.57 and 3,150.11. Volume was 1.74 billion shares worth 1.37 billion Singapore dollars. There were 314 decliners and 202 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT shed 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Investment added 0.28 percent, City Developments improved 0.37 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.43 percent, DBS Group eased 0.10 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 0.67 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.05 percent, Keppel Corp tanked 1.95 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust advanced 0.56 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.41 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.17 percent, SATS and Wilmar International both lost 0.25 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 1.07 percent, Singapore Exchange plunged 2.47 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 1.26 percent, SingTel declined 1.20 percent, Thai Beverage surged 1.56 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.11 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 4.17 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding spiked 1.55 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the day, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plummeted 741.46 points or 2.42 percent to finish at 29,927.07, while the NASDAQ plunged 453.06 points or 4.08 percent to close at 10,646.10 and the S&P 500 dropped 123.22 points or 3.25 percent to end at 3,666.77.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected concerns aggressive monetary policy action by central banks around the world may trigger a global recession.

Following the Federal Reserve's widely expected 75 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday, central banks in Switzerland, England and Taiwan, among others, also decided to hike rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. plunged more than expected May.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday after prices rebounded as tight supply levels outweighed concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.27 or 2 percent at $117.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide May numbers for non-oil domestic exports, which are expected to rise 1.4 percent on month and 7.6 percent on year after sinking 3.3 percent on month and gaining 6.4 percent on year in April. The trade surplus in April was SGD4.280 billion.