Singapore Stock Market May Extend Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Monday snapped the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,240-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing concerns over the health of the financial sector. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues. For the day, the index gained 26.39 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 3,239.03 after trading between 3,223.45 and 3,247.50. Among the actives, Ascendas REIT soared 2.53 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 1.04 percent, CapitaLand Investment accelerated 2.01 percent, City Developments and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust both gained 0.56 percent, Comfort DelGro dropped 0.84 percent, DBS Group perked 0.27 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.85 percent, Hongkong Land was up 0.24 percent, Keppel Corp climbed 1.30 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gathered 0.40 percent, SATS rallied 1.95 percent, SembCorp Industries strengthened 1.42 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering surged 2.83 percent, SingTel improved 1.26 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 2.36 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.65 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.48 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slumped 1.35 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.61 percent and Emperador, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened in the green on Monday, although the tech-heavy NASDAQ quickly slipped into negative territory and never emerged.

The Dow jumped 194.55 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 32,432.08, while the NASDAQ sank 55.12 points or 0.47 percent to end at 11,768.84 and the S&P 500 rose 6.54 points or 0.16 percent to close at 3,977.53.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to build on last week's gains as fears of a global banking crisis once again eased following the latest developments in the sector.

Shares of First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) skyrocketed after the company reached an agreement with the FDIC to purchase all deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank.

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) also showed a strong move back to the upside after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted the bank remains profitable.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about oil supply after Russian President Vladmir Putin said he will station tactical nuclear weapons in ally Belarus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May surged $3.55 or 5.1 percent at $72.81 a barrel.