The Singapore stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sliding almost 60 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,120-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft following disappointing economic and earnings news, plus sinking crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials, properties and industrials.
For the day, the index sank 27.01 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 3,118.51 after trading between 3,112.51 and 3,146.81. Volume was 1.56 billion shares worth 1.37 billion Singapore dollars. There were 369 decliners and 146 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.32 percent, while CapitaLand plunged 2.22 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust eased 0.47 percent, City Developments surrendered 1.28 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 2.99 percent, Dairy Farm International slipped 0.58 percent, DBS Group weakened 0.65 percent, Genting Singapore dipped 0.61 percent, Keppel Corp declined 1.31 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust lost 0.95 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust was down 0.48 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.93 percent, SATS added 0.50 percent, SembCorp Industries skidded 1.50 percent, Singapore Airlines shed 0.98 percent, Singapore Exchange tumbled 1.85 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tanked 1.99 percent, SingTel slid 0.83 percent, United Overseas Bank dropped 1.07 percent, Wilmar International sank 1.14 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding retreated 1.36 percent and Singapore Press Holdings and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened Tuesday in the red and stayed that way throughout the session.
The Dow tumbled 282.12 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 35,343.28, while the NASDAQ dropped 137.58 points or 0.93 percent to close at 14,656.18 and the S&P 500 sank 31.63 points or 0.71 percent to end at 4,448.08.
The weakness on Wall Street followed a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales tumbled much more than expected in July.
A steep drop by shares of Home Depot (HD) also weighed on the markets, with the home improvement retailer plunging by 4.3 percent after reporting second quarter earnings that beat estimates but weaker than expected same-store sales growth.
Meanwhile, retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT) closed nearly unchanged after reporting better than expected second quarter results and raising its full-year guidance.
Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday, extending losses to a fourth straight session, amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to a surge in cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $0.70 or 1 percent at $66.59 a barrel.
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