Singapore Stock Market May Extend Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the five-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 70 points or 1.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,245-point plateau and it may pick up steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with strength likely from the oil and technology sectors. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to also move to the upside.

The STI finished barely higher on Wednesday as support from the plantations were offset by weakness from the financials, industrials and properties.

For the day, the index perked 1.86 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 4,245.57 after trading between 4,227.44 and 4,252.43.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.44 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dipped 0.36 percent, City Developments slumped 1.17 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.38 percent, DBS Group collected 0.30 percent, Genting Singapore plunged 2.65 percent, Hongkong Land skidded 1.13 percent, Keppel DC REIT climbed 0.86 percent, Keppel Ltd rallied 0.96 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slid 0.49 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.83 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.24 percent, Seatrium Limited stumbled 1.72 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.66 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.78 percent, SingTel shed 0.92 percent, Thai Beverage and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust both dropped 1.09 percent, United Overseas Bank was down 0.26 percent, UOL Group advanced 0.81 percent, Venture Corporation jumped 1.28 percent, Wilmar International added 0.68 percent, Yangzijiang Financial sank 0.94 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding retreated 1.35 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, DFI Retail Group, SATS and CapitaLand Ascendas REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but moved largely to the upside throughout the day and ended with modest gains.

The Dow climbed 147.16 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 45,565.23, while the NASDAQ added 45.87 points or 0.21 percent to close at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 rose 15.46 points or 0.24 percent to end at a record 6,481.40.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA). After the markets closed, NVIDIA reported earnings that increased from the same period last year and beat estimates.

Traders were also reluctant to make big moves ahead of Friday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending for July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.2 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday after U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.83 or 1.33 percent at $64.08 per barrel.