Singapore Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 45 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,135-point plateau although it's looking at a soft star on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely to offset weakness from technology shares. 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 higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 25.89 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 3,137.54 after trading between 3,120.39 and 3,142.31. Volume was 1.30 billion shares worth 960.32 million Singapore dollars. There were 362 gainers and 188 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rallied 1.06 percent, while CapitaLand Investment was up 0.26 percent, City Developments perked 0.49 percent, Comfort DelGro jumped 1.45 percent, DBS Group strengthened 1.34 percent, Genting Singapore surged 2.76 percent, Hongkong Land improved 0.61 percent, Keppel Corp added 0.15 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.76 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust increased 0.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gathered 0.53 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.70 percent, Singapore Exchange advanced 0.84 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering accelerated 1.50 percent, SingTel added 0.78 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 2.33 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.57 percent, Wilmar International soared 2.47 percent, Yangzijiang Financial climbed 1.16 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 3.16 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree Commercial Trust, SATS, DFI Retail Group and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages quickly headed south on Monday, rebounded midday and then turned modestly lower again into the close.

The Dow sank 62.42 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 31,438.26, while the NASDAQ shed 83.07 points or 0.72 percent to end at 11,524.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 11.63 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,900.11.

The volatility came as investors stayed cautious, reassessing the expected path of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes amid falling inflation expectations.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased more than expected in May. Also, the National Association of Realtors noted an unexpected rebound in pending home sales in May.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday, extending gains from the previous session amid slightly easing worries about outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.95 or 1.8 percent at $109.57 a barrel.