Singapore Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Monday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the Good Friday holiday, the Singapore stock market had turned lower again on Thursday, one day after 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 above the 4,950-point plateau and it's likely to remain rangebound on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is lean on catalysts as many of the markets around the world were closed for Good Friday. Stubbornly high oil prices and continued conflict in the Middle East deal the Asian markets a soft lead for Monday.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index lost 28.33 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 4,947.50 after trading between 4,926.57 and 5,010.57.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT declined 0.79 percent, while CapitaLand Investment shed 0.36 percent, City Developments tanked 1.68 percent, DBS Group eased 0.02 percent, DFI Retail Group jumped 1.40 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 0.74 percent, Hongkong Land cratered 3.83 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both sank 0.45 percent, Keppel Ltd plunged 1.83 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both contracted 0.75 percent, SATS dropped 0.56 percent, Seatrium Limited stumbled 0.83 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.30 percent, Singapore Airlines was down 0.15 percent, Singapore Exchange added 0.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 0.63 percent, SingTel retreated 0.80 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.15 percent, United Overseas Bank lost 0.32 percent, UOL Group plummeted 2.91 percent, Wilmar International slipped 0.26 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding crashed 3.28 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust were unchanged.

There is no lead from Wall Street as the markets were shuttered for Good Friday.

Tensions remain high as the conflict in the Middle East wraps up its fifth week, with no end in sight. Reports of a U.S. jet downed in Iranian territory have compounded the chaos in the region.

The resulting surge in crude oil prices continues, with the commodity over $112 per barrel at last report as Iran maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Limiting the downside, the Labor Department said on Friday that employment in the U.S. jumped more than expected in March, while the jobless rate eased to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent.

Closer to home, Singapore will release February figures for retail sales later today; in January, sales were up 6.1 percent on month and down 0.4 percent on year.