Singapore Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,245-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower thanks to rising recession fears. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dipped 5.52 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 3,245.80 after trading between 3,212.63 and 3,252.12.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell 0.49 percent, while CapitaLand Investment added 0.81 percent, City Developments tumbled 0.85 percent, DBS Group eased 0.12 percent, Emperador climbed 0.98 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.52 percent, Hongkong Land advanced 0.87 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.14 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust spiked 1.80 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dropped 0.63 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.49 percent, SATS gained 0.70 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 1.78 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.60 percent, SingTel declined 0.78 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 0.73 percent, Wilmar International plunged 1.44 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 5.88 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Ascendas REIT, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, United Overseas Bank, Comfort DelGro and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off early support on Tuesday, quickly turning lower and spending the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow shed 1088 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,136.37, while the NASDAQ lost 79.50 points or 0.76 percent to end at 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 15.36 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,824.14.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to get the New Year started on a positive note following a dismal 2022. For last year, the NASDAQ plummeted 33.1 percent, the S&P 500 lost 19.4 percent and the Dow sank 8.8 percent.

A report from the International Monetary Fund says about one third of the world economy will likely go into a recession this year. A rebound from treasuries also added to the negative sentiment.

A report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of November.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising fears of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $3.33 or 4.2 percent at $76.93 a barrel, a two-week low.