The Singapore stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the four day losing streak in which it had surrendered more than 150 points or 4.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,415-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed consolidation on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to growing concerns over interest rates and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and plantations were mitigated by weakness from the industrials and a mixed picture from the properties.
For the day, the index climbed 32.13 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 3,415.90 after trading between 3,376.81 and 3,426.02. Volume was 2.02 billion shares worth 2.13 billion Singapore dollars. There were 231 decliners and 224 gainers.
Among the actives, DBS Group surged 5.32 percent, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 2.01 percent, Ascendas REIT plummeted 1.89 percent, CapitaLand spiked 1.70 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.66 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust skidded 1.48 percent, SingTel fell 1.16 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.14 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.99 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.90 percent, Genting Singapore shed 0.79 percent, Wilmar International advanced 0.66 percent, Keppel Corp lost 0.61 percent and Hutchison Port Holdings, Comfort DelGro, Golden Agri-Resources and Singapore Exchange all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks quickly shrugged off an early move to the upside on Thursday, and tumbled deep into negative territory.
The Dow shed 1,032.89 points or 4.15 percent to 23,860.46, while the NASDAQ lost 274.82 points or 3.90 percent to 6,777.16 and the S&P 500 fell 100.66 points or 3.75 percent to 2,581.00.
The lead from Wall Street is awful as the mid-day sell-off sent the Dow into correction territory. Stocks have tumbled from record highs over the past week as traders grew concerned about inflation and higher interest rates.
In economic news, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday that the recent correction in U.S. stocks will have little impact on the broader economy, a sign that the FOMC still plans to raise interest rates at least three times in 2018.
Crude oil futures fell Thursday, slipping to their lowest in five weeks due to a stronger dollar and demand concerns. WTI light sweet crude oil was down 64 cents or 1 percent to $61.15/bbl.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com