The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,245-point plateau although the rally may stall on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on recession concerns and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S, bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks.
For the day, the index added 9.89 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 3,245.97 after trading between 3,235.82 and 3,248.03.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Investment gained 0.28 percent, City Developments advanced 0.61 percent, Comfort DelGro strengthened 0.81 percent, DBS Group perked 0.12 percent, Emperador rallied 1.02 percent, Genting Singapore increased 0.56 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.35 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.13 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust improved 0.60 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gathered 0.41 percent, SATS surged 4.84 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.93 percent, SingTel shed 0.38 percent, Thai Beverage soared 2.29 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 1.04 percent, Wilmar International climbed 0.75 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 1.52 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Keppel DC REIT, Frasers Logistics and UOL Group were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red, ticked higher midday but slumped going into the close.
