Singapore Stock Market May See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions collecting more than 25 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,350-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside ahead of key data later in the week, although slumping oil prices may cap the upside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are likely to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, weakness from the properties and a mixed performance from the industrials.

For the day, the index shed 12.28 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 3,348.87 after trading between 3,340.12 and 3,355.63.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment gained 0.38 percent, City Developments shed 0.53 percent, DBS Group rose 0.22 percent, Emperador jumped 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore stumbled 1.10 percent, Hongkong Land sank 0.59 percent, Keppel DC REIT soared 2.22 percent, Keppel Ltd dropped 0.60 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust surged 2.46 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.75 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.28 percent, SATS spiked 2.16 percent, Seatrium Limited rallied 1.70 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slumped 0.96 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 1.01 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding accelerated 1.75 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, SembCorp Industries, SingTel and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened higher on Monday but quickly turned lower and spent most of the day in the red before a late push saw them end mixed and little changed.

The Dow slumped 115.29 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 38,571.03, while the NASDAQ added 93.65 points or 0.56 percent to close at 16,828.67 and the S&P 500 rose 5.89 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,283.40.

Investors locked in recent gains in the first half of the day, consolidating positions ahead of key data later in the week. Late bargain hunting boosted the averages going into the close.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said that manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted at a slightly faster rate in May. Also, the U.S. Census Bureau said U.S. construction spending unexpectedly shrunk in April.

Oil prices fell to a four-month low on Monday after OPEC said it will begin phasing out voluntary production cuts over the next year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $2.77 or about 3.6 percent at $74.22 a barrel.