The Singapore stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slipping almost a dozen points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,260-point plateau although it may see support on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European and U.S. markets finished mixed and mostly flat and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished slightly lower on Monday following weakness from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and properties.
For the day, the index fell 8.97 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 3,257.66 after trading between 3,253.50 and 3,276.19.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.70 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust retreated 0.96 percent, CapitaLand Investment improved 1.06 percent, Comfort DelGro was up 0.19 percent, DBS Group collected 0.16 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 0.91 percent, Hongkong Land rose 0.23 percent, Keppel Corp dropped 0.47 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust advanced 1.16 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 1.28 percent, SATS sank 0.38 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.22 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.83 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.50 percent, Venture Corporation plummeted 3.68 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.29 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 1.57 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Yangzijiang Financial, City Developments, SingTel, Thai Beverage and Emperador were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened flat on Monday and spent much of the day in negative territory before finishing mixed and little changed.
The Dow shed 55.69 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 33,618.69, while the NASDAQ added 21.50 points or 0.18 percent to close at 12,256.92 and the S&P 500 perked 1.87 points or 0.05 percent to end at 4,138.12.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead to the release of key inflation data later in the week.
The reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which are due to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. wholesale inventories were unexpectedly unchanged in March versus expectations for a slight increase.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand thanks to last week's fairly encouraging non-farm payrolls data. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.82 or 2.6 percent at $73.16 a barrel.
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