Singapore Stock Market Likely Rangebound On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,170-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials came in mixed.

For the day, the index collected 7.94 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 3,171.83 after trading between 3,163.30 and 3,193.58.

Among the actives, Keppel DC REIT plummeted 5.47 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 3.16 percent, Emperador tumbled 1.94 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.74 percent, Wilmar International jumped 1.71 percent, SembCorp Industries rallied 1.50 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 1.27 percent, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT climbed 1.12 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 1.11 percent, Thai Beverage declined 0.91 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 0.75 percent, CapitaLand Investment added 0.65 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 0.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.54 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.46 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.45 percent, SingTel improved 0.42 percent, SATS rose 0.39 percent, City Developments fell 0.30 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 0.25 percent, DBS perked 0.03 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Seatrium Limited, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages open sharply lower on Tuesday but fought back into the green before finally settling mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.11 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 33,997,65, while the NASDAQ shed 34.24 points or 0.25 percent to close at 13,533.75 and the S&P 500 eased 0.43 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,373.20.

The early weakness on Wall Street came after data showed bigger than expected increases in retail sales and industrial production last month, raising concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for longer or even announce a rate hike this year.

Higher bond yields and geopolitical concerns in the Middle East also kept investors wary.

Crude oil futures settled flat on Tuesday after a lackluster session as investors continued to track the developments on the geopolitical front and weighed the outlook for global demand and supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended at $86.66 a barrel, unchanged from the previous close.