Soft Start Expected For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked lower in four straight sessions, slumping almost 40 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,940-point plateau and it figures to open in the red again on Friday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff announcement. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the banks and mixed performances from the properties and industrials. For the day, the index lost 11.98 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 3,942.23 after trading between 3,902.98 and 3,955.04.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust surged 3.33 percent, while CapitaLand Investment rose 0.37 percent, DBS Group slumped 1.13 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.66 percent, Keppel Ltd advanced 0.88 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust improved 0.79 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust spiked 1.52 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation skidded 0.75 percent, SATS plunged 2.97 percent, Seatrium Limited tanked 2.44 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.61 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.35 percent, SingTel soared 2.56 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.27 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 3.83 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore, City Developments, Comfort DelGro, Thai Beverage, Wilmar International and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the day, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 1,679.39 points or 3.98 percent to finish at 40,545.93, while the NASDAQ crashed 1,050.44 points or 5.97 percent to close at 1,6550.61 and the S&P 500 tumbled 274.45 points or 4.84 percent to end at 5,396.52.

The nosedive on Wall Street came after Trump delivered a highly anticipated speech on Wednesday outlining his plan to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trade partners.

Canada and the European Union are also preparing countermeasures, leading to concerns about a trade war that could fuel inflation and damage the global economy.

Adding to the negative sentiment, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. service sector growth slowed by more than anticipated in March.

Crude oil prices pulled back sharply on Thursday after the U.S. implemented its tariffs, while additional selling pressure came after OPEC said it would speed up previously announced increases in output. Crude for May delivery plummeted $4.76 or 6.6 percent to $66.95 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide February numbers for retail sales later today; in January, sales were up 2.4 percent on month and 4.5 percent on year.