The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, rallying almost 75 points or 3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 2,500-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Wednesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on hopes for a definitive result from the United States presidential election. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to also open in the green.
The STI finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board - especially the financials, properties and industrials.
For the day, the index spiked 54.09 points or 2.21 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,497.22 after trading between 2,453.26. There were 316 gainers and 131 decliners.
Among the actives, Thai Beverage skyrocketed 5.08 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 5.06 percent, DBS Group spiked 3.88 percent, City Developments accelerated 3.87 percent, Keppel Corp rallied 2.76 percent, SingTel jumped 2.50 percent, CapitaLand climbed 2.39 percent, Ascendas REIT gathered 2.38 percent, Genting Singapore perked 2.33 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust advanced 2.27 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust added 2.26 percent, United Overseas Bank gained 2.21 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 2.20 percent, Singapore Exchange improved 2.08 percent, Comfort DelGro increased 1.47 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.42 percent, Singapore Airlines and Wilmar International both added 1.18 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Singapore Press Holdings both gained 1.01 percent, SATS rose 0.98 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering was up 0.86 percent and CapitaLand Commercial Trust was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday and stayed that way throughout the day, extending gains from the previous session.
The Dow surged 554.98 points or 2.06 percent to finish at 27,480.03, while the NASDAQ spiked 202.96 points or 1.85 percent to end at 11,160.57 and the S&P 500 jumped 58.92 points or 1.78 percent to close at 3,369.16.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders hope for a definitive outcome from the election. Democratic candidate Joe Biden holds a clear lead in national polls and is also leading in several key swing states in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.
Traders seem optimistic that the results of the election will be known at the end of the night without the need for lawsuits and recounts. Trump has repeatedly raised questions about the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and has not committed to a peaceful transition of power.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed a significant increase in September.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday on a weaker dollar and hopes that OPEC may postpone a plan to ease output cuts in January. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December gained $0.85 or 2.3 percent at $37.66 a barrel.
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