Singapore Stock Market May Reverse Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,190-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials and properties, while the industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index slipped 6.67 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,189.40 after trading between 3,175.02 and 3,194.06.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT fell 0.38 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust retreated 1.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment and Mapletree Industrial Trust skidded 0.91 percent, City Developments dropped 0.87 percent, Comfort DelGro soared 2.86 percent, DBS Group slumped 1.12 percent, Emperador climbed 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 1.06 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 1.89 percent, Keppel Corp advanced 0.93 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust jumped 1.23 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.61 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.24 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 3.11 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.55 percent, SingTel improved 0.82 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 1.77 percent, United Overseas Bank slid 0.36 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.50 percent, Yangzijiang Financial declined 1.47 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.78 percent and SATS was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained firmly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 145.79 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 34,212.12. while the NASDAQ rallied 111.40 points or 0.83 percent to end at 13,573.32 and the S&P 500 gained 30.08 points or 0.69 percent to close at 4,369.01.

The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in the month of May, which showed prices edged slightly higher.

The data added to optimism about the Federal Reserve pausing its recent interest rate increases when the central bank announces its monetary policy decision later today.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday after the People's Bank of China announced a surprise rate cut, and the dollar weakened after data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation raised expectations the Fed will pause rate increases. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.30 or 3.4 percent at $69.42 a barrel.