Singapore Stock Market Tipped To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, sinking almost 110 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,210-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index sank 19.16 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 3,213.58 after trading between 3,198.24 and 3,227.09.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Investment was up 0.32 percent, City Developments stumbled 1.33 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 1.57 percent, DBS Group shed 0.57 percent, Emperador climbed 0.97 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 1.06 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.65 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.72 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust collected 0.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.61 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation skidded 1.04 percent, SATS plunged 3.05 percent, Seatrium Limited dropped 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.35 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.52 percent, SingTel retreated 1.25 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.88 percent, Wilmar International tumbled 1.65 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surrendered 1.37 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding gained 0.59 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Frasers Logistics and DFI Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but quickly turned lower and ended solidly in the red.

The Dow dropped 180.65 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 34,765.74, while the NASDAQ tumbled 156.42 points or 1.15 percent to close at 13,474.63 and the S&P 500 sank 33.53 points or 076 percent to end at 4,404.33.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street followed the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, which said "most of the central bank officials continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy."

In economic news, U.S. industrial and manufacturing production both eased in July, while building permits and housing starts saw mild upside.

Crude oil prices slipped Wednesday amid worries about the outlook for energy demand from China and uncertainty over interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September shed $1.61 or 2 percent at $79.38 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see July figures for non-oil domestic exports later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 2.6 percent on month and a fall of 16.5 percent on year. That follows the 5.4 percent monthly gain and the 15.5 percent decline in June.