Singapore Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 60 points or 1.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 4,350-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with geopolitical concerns in the Middle East likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the financials and telecoms were offset by gains from the property stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 11.58 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 4,344.24 after trading between 4,339.69 and 4,375.33.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust both strengthened 0.71 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rallied 0.68 percent, CapitaLand Investment increased 0.36 percent, City Developments spiked 0.89 percent, DBS Group stumbled 1.48 percent, DFI Retail Group dropped 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land and SATS both gained 0.31 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both accelerated 0.85 percent, Keppel Ltd rose 0.12 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust improved 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust jumped 0.80 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.18 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.33 percent, SingTel sank 0.23 percent, Thai Beverage soared 1.09 percent, United Overseas Bank slumped 0.45 percent, UOL Group surged 1.43 percent, Wilmar International climbed 0.68 percent, Yangzijiang Financial skyrocketed 7.41 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Seatrium Limited, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Genting Singapore and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and closed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow dropped 273.78 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 45,834.22, while the NASDAQ gained 98.03 points or 0.44 percent to close at 22,141.10 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.18 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,584.29.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.0 percent, while the S&P 500 shot up 1.6 percent and the Dow jumped 1.0 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next Wednesday. With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter point.

Traders will pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of more rate cuts. Currently, the Fed is expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.

Crude oil has moved higher Friday as concerns over supply side disruptions linger, with the Russia-Ukraine war intensifying and a new conflict brewing in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.31 or 0.50 percent at $62.68 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release Q2 unemployment data later today, with forecasts predicting the jobless rate to tick up to 2.1 percent from 2.0 percent in the previous quarter.