The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 95 points or 3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,105-point plateau and it's looking at a steady start for Tuesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on easing bond yields ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are called mixed with an upside bias.
The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the plantations and mixed performances from the financials and industrials.
For the day, the index gained 10.78 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 3,106.00 after trading between 3,097.01 and 3,118.91. Volume was 2.15 billion shares worth 1.33 billion Singapore dollars. There were 268 gainers and 223 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT climbed 1.37 percent, while CapitaLand advanced 0.93 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust perked 0.95 percent, City Developments gained 0.40 percent, Comfort DelGro gathered 1.20 percent, Dairy Farm International plunged 1.33 percent, DBS Group sank 0.50 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 2.22 percent, Keppel Corp eased 0.19 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust advanced 0.49 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust spiked 2.78 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.34 percent, SATS surged 3.43 percent, Singapore Airlines soared 6.23 percent, Singapore Exchange fell 0.20 percent, Singapore Press Holdings skidded 0.74 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.57 percent, SingTel added 0.42 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.35 percent, Wilmar international dropped 0.37 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding accelerated 2.50 percent and SembCorp Industries and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ended up being positive as stocks languished near the unchanged line throughout Monday morning before breaking well into the green in the afternoon.
The Dow jumped 174.82 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 32,953.46, while the NASDAQ spiked 139.84 points or 1.05 percent to end at 13,459.71 and the S&P 500 gained 25.60 points or 0.65 percent to close at 3,968.94.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected optimism about the economic outlook amid stepped up coronavirus vaccination efforts and the recent passage of a new $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
A pullback by treasury yields may also have generated some buying interest, with the ten-year yield moving lower after ending last Friday's trading at its highest closing level in over a year.
Trading activity was subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Traders are hoping the Fed will address the recent spike in bond yields, which has led to considerable volatility in Wall Street in recent sessions.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday with traders weighing energy demand prospects in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April slid $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $65.39 a barrel.
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