Win Streak May Continue For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in consecutive trading days, advancing almost 50 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,640-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian market is upbeat on generally upbeat earnings news. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to also move higher.

The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index gained 14.94 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,640.19 after trading between 3,623.86 and 3,644.18.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 1.44 percent, while City Developments climbed 0.95 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.68 percent, DBS Group collected 0.46 percent, Genting Singapore shed 0.59 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.50 percent, Keppel DC REIT rallied 1.35 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation advanced 0.92 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering surged 2.12 percent, SingTel rose 0.31 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.91 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding lost 0.39 percent and SATS, Seatrium Limited, SembCorp Industries, Yangzijiang Financial, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, DFI Retail Group, Emperador and CapitaLand Investment all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but moved steadily higher as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow added 36.86 points or 0.09 percent to finish at a fresh record of 43,275.91, while the NASDAQ climbed 115.94 points or 0.63 percent to end at 18,489.55 and the S&P 500 rose 23.20 points or 0.40 percent to close at 5,864.67. For the week, the Dow added 1.0 percent, the S&P gained 0.9 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.8 percent.

The NASDAQ benefitted from a sharp increase by shares of Netflix (NFLX), as the streaming giant soared by 11.1 percent to a record closing high after the company reported Q3 results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Meanwhile, a steep drop by shares of American Express (AXP) limited the upside for the Dow, with the credit card giant tumbling by 3.2 percent after the company reported Q3 earnings that beat expectations but weaker than expected revenues.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported a modest pullback by housing starts and building permits in September.

Oil prices fell on Friday following downward revisions in oil demand forecast from OPEC and the International Energy Agency. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November sank $1.45 or 2.05 percent at $69.22 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell more than 8 percent in the week.