Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 65 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 4,390-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over relations between the United States and China, while tech shares are also likely to be weak. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as the financials, properties, REITs and industrials were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index rose 12.87 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 4,393.92 after trading between 4,378.17 and 4,399.65.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT rose 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.42 percent, CapitaLand Investment was up 0.38 percent, City Developments soared 2.12 percent, DBS Group improved 0.86 percent, DFI Retail Group slumped 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land stumbled 1.28 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.84 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 0.93 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rallied 1.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.06 percent, SATS advanced 0.88 percent, Seatrium Limited jumped 0.96 percent, SembCorp Industries strengthened 0.94 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering surged 2.30 percent, SingTel fell 0.23 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.03 percent, UOL Group spiked 1.63 percent, Wilmar International gathered 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 1.89 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding perked 0.31 percent and Keppel DC REIT, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat but gradually turned lower as the day progressed and finished solidly under water.

The Dow stumbled 334.33 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 46,590.41, while the NASDAQ sank 213.27 points or 0.93 percent to end at 22,740.40 and the S&P 500 slumped 35.95 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,699.40.

The slump by the tech-heavy NASDAQ was partly due to a steep drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) and Texas Instruments (TXN) after disappointing earnings news.

The major averages fell to their lows of the session following reports that the Trump administration is considering a plan to curb an array of software-powered exports to China.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday on news that the proposed U.S.-Russia summit to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war has been shelved. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $1.28 or 2.24 percent at $58.52 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release September figures for consumer prices later today; in August, overall inflation was up 0.5 percent both on month and on year, while core CPI rose an annual 0.3 percent.