Singapore Stock Market May Crack 5,700-Point Barrier

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 85 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,660-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on bargain hunting and easing oil prices and treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the retailers.

For the day, the index added 25.11 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 5,660.52 after trading between 5,637.86 and 5,671.13.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened solidly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 316.14 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 51,778.04, while the NASDAQ surged 439.88 points or 1.69 percent to close at 26,089.55 and the S&P 500 rallied 85.95 points or 1.14 percent to end at 7,637.76.

Stocks surged early in the session amid an extended pullback by the price of crude oil after supply-related concerns eased amid Saudi Arabia's efforts to get its vital oil pipeline back in operation. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.60 or 0.59 percent at $101.83 per barrel.

Treasury yields have moved to the downside along with crude oil prices, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note slumping after ending the previous session roughly flat.

Traders shrugged off Wednesday's widely expected interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, even though projections point to at least one more rate hike before the end of the year.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department showed an unexpected decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.