Singapore Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,210-point plateau and it's likely to see continued consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on persistent concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the financials were offset by support from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index slid 12.35 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 3,214.51 after trading between 3,211.03 and 3,232.28.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT retreated 0.74 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment fell 0.28 percent, City Developments slid 0.27 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.84 percent, DBS Group slumped 0.65 percent, Emperador spiked 1.01 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 0.94 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 0.90 percent, Keppel Corp rallied 0.92 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust dropped 0.59 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust skidded 0.61 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.08 percent, SATS gained 0.41 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.29 percent, SingTel declined 0.83 percent, Thai Beverage improved 0.79 percent, United Overseas Bank sank 0.54 percent, Wilmar International plunged1.26 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 3.95 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.76 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, SembCorp Industries and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday and hugged the line before plummeting in afternoon trade, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 543.54 points or 1.66 percent to finish at 32,254.86, while the NASDAQ tumbled 237.65 points or 2.05 percent to close at 11,338.35 and the S&P 500 sank 73.69 points or 1.85 percent to end at 3,918.32.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street followed the Labor Department report the showed initial jobless claims rose by more than expected last week, although the data helped ease concerns about labor market tightness.

Buying interest tumbled as the day progressed as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report later today. The report could have a significant effect on the pace of interest rate hikes as determined by the FOMC.

Crude oil prices retreated on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight day amid concerns that aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve could slow global economic growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.94 or 1.2 percent at $75.72 a barrel.