The Singapore stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, spiking almost 165 points or 6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 2,590-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Wednesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian is broadly positive as the contentious election in the United States remains unsettled. The European and U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index soared 72.64 points or 2.89 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,588.62 after trading as low as 2,541.76 on turnover of 1.87 billion Singapore dollars. There were 325 gainers and 143 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT skyrocketed 6.64 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust surged 6.18 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust soared 4.37 percent, SingTel spiked 4.29 percent, DBS Group accelerated 4.08 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 3.60 percent, Keppel Corp jumped 3.55 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 3.48 percent, City Developments gathered 3.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust perked 3.43 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 3.23 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 3.03 percent, CapitaLand added 2.73 percent, SembCorp Industries gained 2.44 percent, Thai Beverage rose 2.38 percent, Singapore Exchange increased 2.25 percent, Singapore Technologies advanced 1.97 percent, Singapore Airlines added 1.76 percent, Wilmar international gained 0.93 percent, Dairy Farm International lost 0.76 percent, SATS rose 0.64 percent, Singapore Press Holdings was up 0.50 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and CapitaLand Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street continues to be form as stocks opened sharply higher on Thursday and stayed that way, extending gains from the previous two sessions.
The Dow soared 542.52 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 28,390.18, while the NASDAQ surged 300.15 points or 2.59 percent to end at 11,890.93 and the S&P 500 jumped 67.01 points or 1.95 percent to close at 3,510.45.
The continued strength on Wall Street came as traders kept an eye on the latest news regarding the presidential election. Democratic nominee Joe Biden currently seems poised to unseat President Donald Trump, although Democrats are not expected to take control of the Senate.
Meanwhile, the members of the Federal Reserve decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25 percent, as widely expected. The accompanying statement said the Fed expects rates to remain unchanged until labor market reaches levels consistent with the central bank's assessments of maximum employment.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week; later today, the Labor Department will release its more closely watched report on employment in October.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak as rising coronavirus cases and the delay in outcome of the U.S. Presidential election weighed on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled with a loss of $0.36 or 0.9 percent at $38.79 a barrel.
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