The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,230-point plateau and now it's looking at a green light for Wednesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on earnings optimism and ahead of the FOMC's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index picked up 13.32 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,232.37 after trading between 3,213.26 and 3,233.00. Volume was 1.89 billion shares worth 1.2 billion Singapore dollars. There were 275 decliners and 206 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT dropped 0.64 percent, while City Developments tumbled 1.37 percent, Comfort DelGro jumped 1.27 percent, DBS Group gathered 0.72 percent, Genting Singapore gained 0.64 percent, Keppel Corp dipped 0.19 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust and SembCorp Industries both rose 0.50 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.08 percent, Singapore Airlines lost 0.38 percent, Singapore Exchange shed 0.61 percent, Singapore Press Holdings was up 0.47 percent, SingTel sank 0.79 percent, Thai Beverage added 0.69 percent, United Overseas Bank spiked 1.94 percent, Wilmar International surged 2.04 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 5.00 percent and Dairy Farm International, CapitaLand, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Singapore Technologies Engineering, SATS and Mapletree Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages immediately shook off a soft open in Tuesday and moved into the green, finishing the day at fresh record highs.
The Dow climbed 138.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 36,052.63, while the NASDAQ gained 53.69 points or 0.34 percent to close at 15,649.60 and the S&P 500 rose 16.98 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,630.65.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, as traders reacted to another batch of upbeat earnings news from the likes of athletic apparel maker Under Armour (UAA), drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) and chemical company DuPont (DD).
Overall trading activity was subdued, however, as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed announcement. The Fed is expected to announce plans to begin scaling back its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases by next month.
The language of the Fed's statement is likely to be in focus as traders look for clues about the outlook for interest rates amid concerns about the high rate of inflation.
Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday on concerns about growth after data showed a slowdown in Eurozone manufacturing activity amid rising input costs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled at $83.91 a barrel, losing $0.14 or 0.2 percent.
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