The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 35 points or 1.1 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,140-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to at least open in similar fashion.
The STI finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the properties were capped by weakness from the financials and industrials.
For the day, the index perked 3.05 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,141.47 after trading between 3,138.42 and 3,153.69.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rose 0.51 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.50 percent, City Developments advanced 0.84 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.74 percent, DBS Group fell 0.30 percent, Emperador tumbled 1.03 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 1.26 percent, Keppel Ltd slumped 0.97 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gathered 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust gained 0.68 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation sank 0.53 percent, SATS shed 0.39 percent, Seatrium Limited climbed 1.10 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.79 percent, SingTel perked 0.42 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 2.02 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 3.74 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Keppel DC REIT, Yangzijiang Financial, Genting Singapore and Singapore Technologies Engineering were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday but quickly moved solidly to the upside and finished comfortably in the green.
The Dow soared 235.83 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 39,005.49, while the NASDAQ surged 246.36 points or 1.54 percent to end at 16,265.64 and the S&P 500 rallied 57.33 points or 1.12 percent to close at 5,175.27.
The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department’s highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in February.
While core price growth slowed slightly less than expected, the slowdown still seems to have added to optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates in June.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on Thursday on producer price inflation for February.
Oil futures settled lower again on Tuesday on the U.S. inflation data and persisting worries about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April sank $0.37 at $77.56 a barrel.
