Singapore Stock Market May Give Up Support At 3,300 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 30 points or 1 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,315-point plateau although it may see continued selling pressure on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on pessimism over corporate earnings and for energy demand. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the property and industrial companies.

For the day, the index shed 10.64 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 3,313.41 after trading between 3,305.33 and 3,329.52.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT climbed 1.05 percent, while CapitaLand Investment fell 0.26 percent, City Developments advanced 0.95 percent, DBS Group dropped 0.85 percent, Genting Singapore improved 0.88 percent, Hongkong Land eased 0.23 percent, Keppel Corp jumped 1.29 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slumped 0.62 percent, SATS lost 0.37 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.81 percent, SingTel rose 0.39 percent, Thai Beverage gained 0.76 percent, United Overseas Bank retreated 1.26 percent, Wilmar International declined 0.98 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.32 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.81 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, SembCorp Industries, Comfort DelGro, Emperador and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow stumbled 110.39 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 33,786.62, while the NASDAQ lost 97.67 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 12,059.56 and the S&P 500 fell 24.73 points or 0.60 percent to end at 4,129.79.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected disappointment in the latest earnings news from several big-name companies including Tesla (TSLA), AT&T (T) and America Express (AXP).

Negative sentiment was also generated by disappointing U.S. economic data, including a report from the Philadelphia Federal reserve showing regional manufacturing activity contracted at an accelerated rate in April.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday, extending losses from the previous session amid rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May sank $1.87 or 2.4 percent at $77.29 a barrel on the expiration day, the lowest since March 31.