Singapore Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 80 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index sits just above the 4,900-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with any upside likely limited by inflation concerns and profit taking among oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Friday as the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index shed 24.90 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 4,905.13 after trading between 4,900.55 and 4,933.88.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rose 0.42 percent, while City Developments shed 0.64 percent, DBS Group slumped 0.99 percent, DFI Retail Group slipped 0.24 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land perked 0.12 percent, Keppel DC REIT jumped 1.79 percent, Keppel Ltd contracted 1.35 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust sank 0.68 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust retreated 1.46 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.56 percent, SATS dropped 0.79 percent, SembCorp Industries tumbled 1.63 percent, Singapore Airlines eased 0.16 percent, Singapore Exchange was down 0.17 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 1.55 percent, SingTel gained 0.44 percent, United Overseas Bank skidded 0.98 percent, UOL Group fell 0.46 percent, Wilmar International declined 1.45 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding stumbled 1.76 percent and CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Investment, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Thai Beverage, Seatrium Limited and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 179.09 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 48,892.47, while the NASDAQ sank 223.30 points or 0.94 percent to end at 23,461.82 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,939.03.

For the week, the S&P rose 0.3 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and the Dow fell 0.4 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about inflation after the Labor Department reported that producer prices increased by much more than expected in December.

New tariff threats from President Donald Trump may also have contributed to the negative sentiment, as well as news that Trump announced his intent to nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Crude oil prices slid on Friday as the U.S. dollar index moved higher, while the possibility of diplomatic intervention in the U.S.-Iran conflict also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.22 or 0.34 percent at $65.20 per barrel.