Win Streak May Continue For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 80 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 4,570-point plateau and it's expected to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the end of the U.S. government shutdown. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the property stocks and industrial issues, while the financial shares came in mixed.

For the day, the index gained 26.71 points or 0.59 percent to finish at the daily high of 4,568.91 after trading as low as 4,540.90.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT fell 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Investment gained 0.37 percent, City Developments accelerated 1.37 percent, Comfort DelGro climbed 0.68 percent, DBS Group eased 0.05 percent, DFI Retail Group declined 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore shed 0.62 percent, Hongkong Land surged 3.00 percent, Keppel DC REIT slumped 0.83 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.39 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust retreated 1.35 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.49 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.76 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 0.86 percent, SATS jumped 1.15 percent, Seatrium Limited and Venture Corporation both improved 0.47 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.15 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering advanced 0.61 percent, SingTel spiked 2.16 percent, United Overseas Bank and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both increased 0.29 percent, UOL Group soared 2.86 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial stumbled 2.86 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is contradictory as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but took different paths to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow jumped 326.86 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 48,254.82, while the NASDAQ slipped 61.84 points or 0.26 percent to close at 23,406.46 and the S&P 500 rose 4.31 points or 0.06 percent to end at 6,850.92.

The continued advance by the Dow came amid strong gains by UnitedHealth (UNH), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Cisco Systems (CSCO). But continued decline by the tech-heavy NASDAQ reflected lingering valuation concerns.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, where the House of Representatives will vote on a bill ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

After the Senate voted Monday to approve the bill extending funding for most agencies until January 30, the House is set to vote on the legislation within the next few hours.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday after OPEC's monthly report suggested that global supply now exceeds demand by about 500,000 barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $2.62 or 4.31 percent at $58.40 per barrel.