The Singapore stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, collecting almost 15 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,100-point plateau and it’s expected to see further upside on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were solidly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index picked up 1.95 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 3,104.26 after trading between 3,095.70 and 3,108.01.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT fell 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment sank 0.66 percent, City Developments shed 0.63 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.72 percent, DBS Group and SembCorp Industries both climbed 0.79 percent, Emperador jumped 0.97 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 0.91 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.45 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.43 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.08 percent, SATS improved 0.37 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 2.78 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 0.26 percent, SingTel rallied 0.85 percent, Wilmar International and DFI Retail both dropped 0.87 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tanked 1.61 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.34 percent and Genting Singapore, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages were flat for most of the day but surged in the afternoon following the Federal Reserve’s rate decision, RTT reported.
The Dow surged 512.30 points or 1.40 percent to finish at a record 37,090.24, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.57 points or 1.38 percent to end at 14,733.96 and the S&P 500 gained 63.39 points or 1.37 percent to close at 4,707.09.
