Singapore Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 70 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Straits Time Index now sits just beneath the 3,910-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses moved higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, weakness from the industrials and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index rose 13.34 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 3,908.31 after trading between 3,900.23 and 3,918.24.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 0.95 percent, while CapitaLand Investment slumped 1.13 percent, City Developments added 0.20 percent, DBS Group collected 0.38 percent, DFI Retail Group soared 2.64 percent, Genting Singapore and SATS both sank 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.45 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust percent climbed 0.81 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.48 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.12 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 2.29 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.81 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering surged 2.98 percent, SingTel rallied 0.89 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 0.97 percent, Venture Corporation shed 0.56 percent, Wilmar International dipped 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial advanced 0.74 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slid 0.42 percent and Keppel DC REIT, Keppel Ltd, Emperador, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened modestly higher on Wednesday but accelerated into the close, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 383.32 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 41,964.63, while the NASDAQ surged 246.67 points or 1.41 percent to close at 17,750.79 and the S&P 500 rallied 60.63 points or 1.08 percent to end at 5,675.29.

Stocks rallied early in the session and saw further upside following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The Fed announced its widely expected decision to again leave interest rates unchanged but signaled that it is still likely to lower rates later this year.

Meanwhile, Fed officials lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent and raised their forecasts for consumer price growth this year to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.

Oil futures closed higher on Wednesday amid continued uncertainty about growth due to the impact of U.S. tariffs on some of its major trading partners. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.26 or 0.39 percent at $67.16 a barrel.