Steady Start Seen For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market ticked lower again on Friday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 85 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,655-point plateau although it's like to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

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

The STI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the retail, finance and telecom sectors were mitigated by support from the property and technology companies.

For the day, the index dipped 4.41 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 5,656.11 after trading between 5,621.76 and 5,661.82.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed and slumped midday before ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow sank 95.36 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 51,682.64, while the NASDAQ climbed 104.24 points or 0.39 percent to end at 26,522.54 and the S&P 500 rose 12.74 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,650.50.

For the week, the NASDAQ added 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.1 percent and the Dow slumped 1.7 percent.

The choppy trading on the day came amid a mixed performance by crude oil prices and treasury yields, which have been key drivers of trading in recent sessions.

Oil prices moved lower amid optimism about a potential de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, but treasury yields jumped due to ongoing worries about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday, extending losses as investors anticipate upcoming meetings between the U.S. and gulf leaders to de-escalate Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $1.74 or 1.71 percent at $100.17 per barrel.

On the U.S. economic front, the Fed reported that industrial production unexpectedly came in flat in August, with a jump in utilities output offset by a decrease in manufacturing output.

Closer to home, Singapore will release unemployment data for the second quarter of 2026 later today, with forecasts suggesting no change from the Q1 jobless rate at 2.0 percent.