Singapore Stock Market Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for Deepavali, the Singapore stock market had finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 55 points or 1.8 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 2,970-point plateau although it's expected to find traction on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished sharply lower again on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, trusts and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plunged 52.75 points or 1.75 percent to finish at 2,969.95 after trading between 2,968.92 and 3,019.20. Volume was 1.3 billion shares worth 1 billion Singapore dollars. There were 316 decliners and 193 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tumbled 3.52 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust crashed 3.33 percent, CapitaLand Investment weakened 2.47 percent, City Developments slumped 2.53 percent, Comfort DelGro slipped 0.78 percent, DBS Group slid 0.92 percent, Emperador climbed 1.03 percent, Genting Singapore lost 1.27 percent, Hongkong Land declined 2.99 percent, Keppel Corp shed 1.36 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plummeted 6.06 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust tanked 3.62 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 4.03 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.95 percent, SATS retreated 2.59 percent, SembCorp Industries skidded 2.10 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 2.50 percent, SingTel surrendered 3.25 percent, Thai Beverage dipped 0.88p percent, United Overseas Bank was down 0.65 percent, Wilmar International dropped 1.68 percent, Yangzijiang Financial sank 1.43 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding advanced 0.83 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early directionless trade on Monday but steamed higher in the afternoon to finish firmly in the green.

The Dow soared 417.06 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 31,499.62, while the NASDAQ spiked 92.90 points or 0.86 percent to end at 10,952.61 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.59 points or 1.19 percent to close at 3,797.34.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected optimism the Federal Reserve will signal a slowdown in monetary policy tightening following its meeting next week.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points next week, but traders are hopeful the central bank will indicate plans to slow the pace of rates hikes beginning in December.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday, giving ground following the advance seen last Friday. The pullback reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for global demand, particularly in China. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $0.47 or 0.6 percent to $84.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide September numbers for consumer prices later today. Overall inflation is expected to rise 0.4 percent on month and 7.55 percent on year after gaining 0.9 percent on month and 7.5 percent on year in August. Core CPI is called higher by an annual 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in the previous month.