Singapore Stock Market Poised To Halt Slide

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 40 points or 0.8 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index sits just above the 4,890-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on decent economic data, although weakness among the oil stocks may limit the upside. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and industrial issues, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index shed 12.86 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 4,892.27 after trading between 4,861.82 and 4,927.43.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slumped 0.84 percent, while City Developments climbed 0.97 percent, DBS Group sank 0.54 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 2.47 percent, Keppel Ltd stumbled 1.65 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Seatrium Limited both shed 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 2.22 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.61 percent, SATS retreated 1.58 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.33 percent, Singapore Airlines perked 0.16 percent, Singapore Exchange lost 0.40 percent, SingTel jumped 1.09 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.34 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.29 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slipped 0.30 percent and Singapore Technologies Engineering, Thai Beverage, Keppel DC REIT, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, UOL Group, DFI Retail Group, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat but quickly tracked to the upside and spent the balance of the day in the green.

The Dow jumped 515.19 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 49,407.66, while the NASDAQ added 130.29 points or 0.56 percent to end at 23,592.11 and the S&P 500 gained 37.41 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,976.44.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded for the first time in 12 months in January.

The markets saw continued strength after President Donald Trump announced that he has reached a trade deal with India.

But traders seemed somewhat reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday as signs of de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict reduced supply-output concerns in the Middle East, taking off the geopolitical risk premium. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $3.28 or 5.03 percent at $61.93 per barrel.