The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back trading days, advancing more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 2,925-point plateau and now it’s expected to see little movement on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement on stimulus concerns and lackluster earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index gained 10.18 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 2,927.47 after trading between 2,927.05 and 2,939.35. Volume was 2.35 billion shares worth 1.29 billion Singapore dollars. There were 269 decliners and 203 gainers.
Among the actives, Mapletree Logistics surged 2.60 percent, while Dairy Farm International soared 2.07 percent, Ascendas REIT spiked 1.94 percent, SembCorp Industries accelerated 1.81 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 1.00 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust jumped 0.93 percent, Singapore Press Holdings tumbled 1.65 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 1.21 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust climbed 0.95 percent, Wilmar International sank 0.92 percent, Comfort DelGro dropped 0.63 percent, Keppel Corp shed 0.59 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.58 percent, SATS lost 0.52 percent, SingTel gained 0.42 percent, CapitaLand rose 0.31 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.30 percent, DBS Group fell 0.28 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering increased 0.27 percent, Singapore Airlines slid 0.24 percent, Singapore Exchange was down 0.20 percent and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up 0.10 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Wednesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 36.12 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 30,723.60, while the NASDAQ eased 2.23 points or 0.02 percent to end at 13,610.54 and the S&P 500 rose 3.86 points or 0.10 percent to close at 3,830.17.
Earnings news was inconsistent as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amgen (AMGN) and Amazon all beat the street although only Alphabet posted gains in the market.
The lackluster performance by the broader markets followed the release of some upbeat economic data, which raised concerns lawmakers will feel less pressure to provide additional stimulus.
Payroll processor ADP noted a much stronger than expected rebound in private sector employment in January, while the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly accelerated last month.
Crude oil prices moved higher to hit 11-month highs on Wednesday, lifted by OPEC’s decision to cut crude production for two months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.93 or 1.7 percent at $55.69 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Singapore Shares Have Flat Lead For Thursday
2021-02-04 00:00:04
