The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the six-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 75 points or 2.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,175-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests directionless trade amidst a lack of catalysts, with weakness from the oil stocks offset by gains from technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 24.77 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 3,175.81 after trading between 3,165.76 and 3,179.78. Volume was 2.79 billion shares worth 1.10 billion Singapore dollars.. There were 282 gainers and 212 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT climbed 0.69 percent, while CapitaLand accelerated 1.09 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 1.44 percent, City Developments increased 0.26 percent, Comfort DelGro gained 0.60 percent, Dairy Farm International eased 0.23 percent, DBS Group surged 2.12 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.56 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust soared 1.46 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rallied 1.01 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.89 percent, SATS was up 0.25 percent, SembCorp Industries gathered 0.92 percent, Singapore Airlines shed 0.41 percent, Singapore Exchange advanced 0.68 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 0.78 percent, SingTel fell 0.42 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.45 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.65 percent, Wilmar International added 0.63 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.68 percent and Genting Singapore, Hongkong Land, Jardine Strategic Holdings and Singapore Press Holdings were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages quickly headed south on Monday; the Dow and the S&P saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, while the NASDAQ ended up in positive territory.
The Dow dropped 126.15 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 34,630.24, while the NASDAQ gained 67.23 points or 0.49 percent to end at 13,881.72 and the S&P 500 fell 3.37 points or 0.08 percent to close at 4,226.52.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves after the major averages climbed to their best closing levels in a month last week.
Traders remain optimistic about the economic outlook but are still on edge about the possibility of the Federal Reserve scaling back its ultra-easy monetary policy.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Monday, coming off 30-month highs after data showed a drop in China's crude oil imports in April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.39 or 0.6 percent at $69.23 a barrel.
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