Singapore Bourse May Test Resistance At 4,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Wednesday ended the five-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 120 points or 2.9 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 4,370-point plateau and it's expected to open t the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid rising tensions between the world's two largest economies. The European markets were mostly lower and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the industrials and REITs, weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the banks. For the day, the index added 13.90 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 4,368.42 after trading between 4,358.99 and 4,379.80. Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT was up 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Keppel DC REIT both sank 0.42 percent, CapitaLand Investment rose 0.38 percent, City Developments dipped 0.14 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.68 percent, DBS Group collected 0.19 percent, DFI Retail Group soared 3.03 percent, Genting Singapore and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust both improved 0.69 percent, Hongkong Land skidded 1.10 percent, Keppel Ltd surged 3.22 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gathered 0.24 percent, SATS accelerated 1.18 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 0.96 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 0.84 percent, United Overseas Bank perked 0.09 percent, UOL Group dropped 0.62 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.05 percent, Yangzijiang Financial slumped 0.90 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding spiked 1.91 percent and Seatrium Limited, SingTel and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but slumped midday and finished mixed.

The Dow dipped 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 46,253.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 148.38 points or 0.66 percent to end at 22,670.08 and the S&P 500 added 26.75 points or 0.40 percent to close at 6,671.06.

The continued volatility on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat earnings news against concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and lingering worries about valuations.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said New York manufacturing activity has seen a significant turnaround in October. Also, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book said economic activity in the U.S. has shown little change since early September.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday following the rapid escalation of friction between the U.S. and China, while oversupply concerns also loom. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.33 or 0.56 percent at $58.37 per barrel.