Win Streak May Continue For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 90 points or 2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 4,415-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index added 22.35 points or 0.51 percent to finish at the daily high of 4,416.27 after trading as low as 4,386.20.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT improved 0.70 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both gathered 0.41 percent, CapitaLand Investment perked 0.38 percent, City Developments vaulted 1.25 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 1.36 percent, DBS Group and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust both increased 0.68 percent, DFI Retail Group soared 2.05 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.37 percent, Hongkong Land added 0.65 percent, Keppel DC REIT climbed 0.84 percent, Keppel Ltd picked up 0.31 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.78 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.12 percent, SATS gained 0.58 percent, Seatrium Limited spiked 1.90 percent, SembCorp Industries was up 0.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.47 percent, SingTel strengthened 0.94 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.35 percent, UOL Group accelerated 1.61 percent, Yangzijiang Financial expanded 0.96 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.14 percent and Thai Beverage, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Wilmar International and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher and trended generally to the upside throughout the session.

The Dow climbed 144.20 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 46,734.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 201.40 point or 0.89 percent to close at 22,941.80 and the S&P 500 added 39.04 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,738.44.

The slow start on Wall Street followed mixed corporate earnings news as companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) disappointed but Honeywell (HON) beat the street.

Crude oil surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped 3.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while transportation stocks moved to the downside.

Closer to home, Singapore will see September numbers for industrial production later today; in August, production was down 9.7 percent on month and 7.8 percent on year.