The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 20 points or 0.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,185-point plateau and it’s likely to open in the red again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to dwindling hopes for an interest rate cut in the near future. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed bag from the property sector.
For the day, the index lost 14.43 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 3,184.99 after trading between 3,168.46 and 3,194.44.
Among the actives, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.87 percent, while Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.54 percent, SATS surrendered 1.37 percent, DBS Group declined 1.04 percent, City Developments slumped 0.93 percent, Seatrium skidded 0.88 percent, Frasers Logistics and Venture Corporation both advanced 0.88 percent, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT added 0.68 percent, CapitaLand Investment gained 0.66 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.58 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Keppel DC REIT both sank 0.54 percent, Genting Singapore rose 0.50 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust shed 0.50 percent, UOL Group lost 0.48 percent, SingTel fell 0.41 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering eased 0.26 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Mapletree Logistics, Keppel Ltd, Hongkong Land, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Sembcorp Industries, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Comfort DelGro and Emperador all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and largely remained in the red throughout the trading day.
The Dow tumbled 231.86 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 37,361.12, while the NASDAQ shed 28.41 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,944.35 and the S&P 500 sank 17.85 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,765.98.
The weakness on Wall Street came was the result of higher Treasury yields and concerns that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates anytime soon.
In addition to digesting some hawkish comments from some central bank officials, investors also reacted to disappointing quarterly earnings updates from major companies such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
In economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that the Empire State Manufacturing Index plunged to -43.7 in January, the lowest reading since May 2020.
Oil futures settled lower on Tuesday as a stronger dollar and forecasts that weather in the U.S. will be warmer than normal weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended down $0.28 at $72.40 a barrel. – RTT News
