The Singapore stock market on Friday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,290-point plateau although it’s expected to bounce higher again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. bourses finished solidly higher and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished slightly lower on Friday following weakness from the industrials and mixed performances from the financials and properties.
For the day, the index eased 3.96 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 3,292.93 after trading between 3,289.76 and 3,312.47.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT ranked 1.93 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tumbled 1.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment strengthened 1.56 percent, City Developments dropped 0.67 percent, DBS Group rose 0.25 percent, Genting Singapore gained 0.56 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 1.25 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plummeted 3.17 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust declined 1.20 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 0.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.42 percent, SATS advanced 0.79 percent, Seatrium Limited plunged 3.16 percent, SembCorp Industries lost 0.19 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering retreated 1.25 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 1.03 percent, Wilmar International added 0.62 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.59 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.58 percent and Emperador, Comfort DelGro, Keppel DC REIT and SingTel were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session.
The Dow surged 449.98 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 38,675.68, while the NASDAQ rallied 315.33 points or 1.99 percent to close at 16,156.33 and the S&P 500 advanced 63.59 points or 1.26 percent to end at 5,127.79. For the week, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent, the Dow added 1.1 percent and the NASDAQ jumped 1.4 percent.
The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a closely watched Labor Department showing employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in April. The data helped generate optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting earlier in the week.
Also, a separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly contracted in April.
Oil prices fell on Friday, pushing the most active futures contract to their biggest weekly decline in about three months on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.84 or 1.06 percent at $78.11 a barrel. – RTT News
