Singapore Stock Market May See Renewed Support On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 20 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Time Index now sits just beneath the 3,915-point plateau, although it's likely to tick higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished barely lower on Friday as losses from the properties and trusts were mitigated by support from the financials and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 2.58 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 3,914.48 after trading between 3,898.85 and 3,930.02.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.50 percent, while CapitaLand Investment fell 0.38 percent, City Developments lost 0.40 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.69 percent, DBS Group perked 0.04 percent, DFI Retail rallied 1.44 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 2.62 percent, Keppel DC REIT slumped 0.48 percent, Keppel Ltd retreated 0.73 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tumbled 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.17 percent, SATS tanked 1.27 percent, SembCorp Industries slid 0.32 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.49 percent, SingTel climbed 0.88 percent, Thai Beverage plunged 1.90 percent, UOL Group jumped 1.57 percent, Wilmar International declined 0.61 percent, Yangzijiang Financial collected 0.78 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 0.42 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Emperador, Genting Singapore, Seatrium Limited and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the green by the close.

The Dow climbed 222.62 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 42,801.72, while the NASDAQ rallied 126.92 points or 0.70 percent to close at 18,196.22 and the S&P 500 gained 31.68 points or 0.55 percent to end at 5,770.20. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 3.5 percent, the S&P 500 sank 3.1 percent and the Dow slumped 2.4 percent.

The volatility on Wall followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in February.

While the report added to recent concerns about the strength for the economy, the data may also have generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Bargain hunting contributed to the afternoon recovery, which came even though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank does not "need to be in a hurry" to adjusted interest rates amid uncertainty about the effects of President Donald Trump's policies.

Crude oil prices faded after an early surge but still remained notably higher on Friday, adding to the modest gain posted in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery climbed $0.68 cents or 1.0 percent to $67.04 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see Q4 numbers for unemployment later today; the jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 1.9 percent.