Singapore Stock Market May Crack Resistance At 5,700 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Monday snapped the four-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 100 points or 1.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,660-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian market is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing crude oil prices and hopes for an end to the conflict in the Middle East. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the energy and technology stocks were capped by weakness among the financial shares and properties.

For the day, the index added 29.51 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 5,664.33 after trading between 5,632.01 and 5,674.02.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but generally trended higher throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow added 90.94 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 51,267.90, while the NASDAQ jumped 286.45 points or 1.05 percent to end at a record 27,477.31 and the S&P 500 gained 51.23 points or 0.66 percent to close at 7,773.95.

The strength on Wall Street may partly have reflected easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following last week's inflation and employment data.

On Wednesday, the Fed is scheduled to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in September.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Monday amid indications that exports from the Middle East are returning to pre-war levels despite the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery sank $1.21 or 1.3 percent to $89.90 a barrel.