Soft Start Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,210-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling situation. The European and U.S. bourses were mostly lower and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues. For the day, the index improved 8.50 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 3,211.09 after trading between 3,188.44 and 3,211.14.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment lost 0.58 percent, City Developments sank 0.73 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.77 percent, DBS Group rose 0.26 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 0.97 percent, Hongkong Land surged 2.53 percent, Keppel Corp added 0.46 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust shed 0.59 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dropped 0.86 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.41 percent, SATS skyrocketed 6.30 percent, SembCorp Industries eased 0.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering was down 0.27 percent, SingTel fell 0.39 percent, United Overseas Bank slid 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.43 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding declined 1.57 percent and Wilmar International, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Thai Beverage, Emperador and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly headed south. They staged a modest recovery as the day progressed, although the Dow never managed to escape from negative territory.

The Dow dropped 140.05 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,286.58, while the NASDAQ climbed 62.88 points or 0.50 percent to close at 12,720.78 and the S&P 500 rose 0.65 points or 002 percent to end at 4,192.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors largely refrained from making significant moves as they awaited updates on debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., which so far have not found a resolution.

Treasury Secretary Yellen said on Sunday that the likelihood of the Treasury paying all U.S. bills by June 15 is getting smaller each day.

Concerns over the outlook for interest rates also weighed as Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that he backed two more increases.

Crude oil prices pared early losses and settled higher on Monday, amid hopes the U.S. lawmakers will reach a debt ceiling deal soon and help the nation avoid a default. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June settled at $71.99 a barrel, up $0.44 or 0.6 percent on the expiration day.