The Singapore stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, dropping more than 15 points or 0.5 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 2,975-point plateau although it may see a mild rebound on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is mixed to higher on the back of strong crude oil gains. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials and airlines were offset by support from the properties and industrials.
For the day, the index dipped 6.73 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,977.17 after trading between 2,968.90 and 2,983.66. Volume was 2.10 billion shares worth 1.44 billion Singapore dollars. There were 274 gainers and 210 decliners.
Among the actives, Thai Beverage surged 3.25 percent, while CapitaLand soared 2.04 percent, SingTel plummeted 2.00 percent, City Developments spiked 1.95 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding accelerated 1.89 percent, Singapore Press Holdings rallied 1.72 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 1.66 percent, Singapore Airlines tanked 1.40 percent, Comfort DelGro climbed 1.18 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 1.16 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 1.02 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 1.00 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust dropped 0.92 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.88 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.79 percent, DBS Group lost 0.71 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.57 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.53 percent, Singapore Exchange slid 0.50 percent, Ascendas REIT was up 0.33 percent, SATS dipped 0.25 percent, Dairy Farm International eased 0.23 percent and CapitaLand Commercial Trust and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks bounced back and forth across the unchanged line on Tuesday, finally settling with modest gains.
The Dow added 60.00 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 31,068.69, while the NASDAQ gained 36.00 points or 0.28 percent to end at 13.072.43 and the S&P 500 rose 1.58 points or 0.04 percent to close at 3,801.19.
Political concerns, rising coronavirus cases and uncertainty about near term trend for the market after an historic climb weighed on stocks.
Amid FBI warning about possible armed protests across the United States in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, a state of emergency has been declared in the District of Columbia.
Optimism about further economic stimulus in the U.S. and the rollout of coronavirus vaccines helped to nudge the markets higher. Investors are also looking ahead to quarterly earnings results.
Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday, boosted by a weak dollar and Saudi Arabia's decision to cut production in the next two months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended up $0.96 or 1.8 percent at $53.21 a barrel.
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