The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,115-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is murky, with oil stocks tipped to offer support while technology shares may fall under pressure. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the property stocks.
For the day, the index rose 8.08 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 3,117.89 after trading between 3,104.57 and 3,130.45. Volume was 1.32 billion shares worth 1.27 billion Singapore dollars. There were 232 gainers and 202 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was down 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand surged 1.13 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell 0.49 percent, City Developments shed 0.54 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 0.62 percent, Dairy Farm International added 0.46 percent, DBS Group spiked 0.71 percent, Keppel Corp slid 0.38 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.51 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up 0.17 percent, SATS lost 0.53 percent, Singapore Airlines increased 0.21 percent, Singapore Exchange soared 0.87 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering advanced 0.53 percent, SingTel rose 0.41 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.59 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.42 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Jardine Strategic Holdings, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Commercial Trust, SembCorp Industries, Thai Beverage and Singapore Press Holdings were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened solidly higher on Friday but faded as the day progressed, with only the Dow ending in positive territory.
The Dow advanced 123.69 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 34,207.84, while the NASDAQ sank 64.75 points or 0.48 percent to end at 13,470.99 and the S&P 500 eased 3.26 points or 0.08 percent to close at 4,155.86. For the week, the NASDAQ rose 0.3 percent, the Dow lost 0.5 percent and the S&P fell 0.4 percent.
The mixed performance came as traders remain optimistic about the economic outlook but also remain wary of signs that the Federal Reserve will soon consider tapering its asset purchases.
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported an unexpected decrease in existing home sales in April.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday on reports that a cyclone may disrupt production in the Gulf of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended up $1.64 or 2.7 percent at $63.58 a barrel. WTI futures shed 2.7 percent in the week.
Closer to home, Singapore will provide April numbers for consumer prices, with overall inflation tipped to rise 2.0 percent on year - up from 1.3 percent in March. Core CPI is called higher by an annual 0.9 percent, accelerating from 0.5 percent in the previous month.
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