The Singapore stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, sinking almost 60 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,140-point plateau and it’s tipped to open in the red again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index dropped 42.77 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 3,142.22 after trading between 3,139.83 and 3,175.09.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tumbled 2.02 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust declined 1.99 percent, CapitaLand Investment tanked 3.23 percent, City Developments retreated 1.88 percent, Comfort DelGro slipped 0.71 percent, DBS Group dropped 1.58 percent, Genting Singapore sank 1.50 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 3.94 percent, Keppel DC REIT surrendered 2.16 percent, Keppel Ltd weakened 1.72 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plunged 3.33 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust stumbled 1.80 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust skidded 1.61 percent
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 1.17 percent, SATS was down 0.69 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 1.27 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 0.78 percent, SingTel slid 0.83 percent, Thai Beverage fell 0.95 percent, Wilmar International slumped 1.75 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.56 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding eased 0.63 percent and Emperador and Seatrium Limited were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way, although they managed to finish well off session lows.
The Dow dropped 94.45 point or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,266.67, while the NASDAQ slumped 88.72 points or 0.59 percent to close at 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 lost 26.77 points or 0.56 percent to end at 4,739.21.
The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates amid recent concerns the Federal Reserve won’t lower rates as early as previously hoped.
Adding to worries the Fed will hold off on cutting rates, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in December.
A separate report from the Federal Reserve also showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. industrial production last month.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, although concerns about the outlook for oil demand and a firm dollar limited the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February rose $0.16 at $72.56 a barrel. – RTT News
