The Singapore stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 25 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 2,930-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Tuesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian is upbeat, supported by rising crude oil prices and vaccine optimism. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the properties and industrials.
For the day, the index climbed 24.29 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 2,931.40 after trading between 2,908.18 and 2,938.15. Volume was 2.05 billion shares worth 1.25 billion Singapore dollars. There were 248 decliners and 222 gainers.
Among the actives, Singapore Airlines surged 3.84 percent, while DBS Group soared 3.44 percent, SATS spiked 3.31 percent, Thai Beverage accelerated 2.44 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation jumped 1.36 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 1.32 percent, Genting Singapore climbed 1.14 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tanked 1.02 percent, Ascendas REIT and Mapletree Commercial Trust both tumbled 0.96 percent, SingTel advanced 0.86 percent, Singapore Press skidded 0.83 percent, Keppel added 0.80 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.79 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.75 percent, CapitaLand dropped 0.63 percent, Comfort DelGro rose 0.63 percent, SembCorp Industries lost 0.60 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding increased 0.52 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust improved 0.47 percent, Singapore Exchange was up 0.20 percent and Dairy Farm International and Hongkong Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened higher on Monday and picked up steam as the day progressed, sending the major averages to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow jumped 237.52 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 31,385.76, while the NASDAQ advanced 131.35 points or 0.95 percent to end at 13,987.64 and the S&P 500 gained 28.76 points or 0.74 percent to close at 3,915.59.
The support on Wall Street came as a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus in different parts of the world and improved vaccine rollout efforts have helped generate continued buying interest.
Traders also remain optimistic about the outlook for the global economy and the likelihood of additional U.S. fiscal stimulus as Democrats have taken the first steps toward passing President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package without Republican support.
Crude oil prices moved up sharply on Monday, lifted by forthcoming production cuts and growing optimism for stimulus from the Biden administration. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March closed higher by $1.12 or 2 percent at $57.97 a barrel.
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