Singapore Bourse Expected To Add To Thursday’s Gains

The Singapore stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 35 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,185-point plateau and it’s predicted to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for economic recovery and rising crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and industrial issues.

For the day, the index perked 5.38 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 3,184.77 after trading between 3,176.08 and 3,189.71. Volume was 1.56 billion shares worth 1.12 billion Singapore dollars. There were 236 gainers and 226 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT advanced 0.65 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.46 percent, City Developments tumbled 0.86 percent, Comfort DelGro spiked 1.14 percent, Dairy Farm International tanked 0.95 percent, DBS Group accelerated 0.91 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 0.55 percent, Keppel Corp shed 0.37 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.51 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.42 percent, SATS sank 0.47 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 3.66 percent, Singapore Airlines plummeted 2.91 percent, Singapore Exchange dropped 0.39 percent, Singapore Press Holdings soared 3.19 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.25 percent, SingTel increased 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage plunged 1.32 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.50 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.18 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 0.78 percent and CapitaLand, Mapletree Commercial Trust and Jardine Strategic Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks moved sharply higher on Thursday, offsetting losses from the previous session and sending the Dow and the S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow spiked 305.10 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 34,035.99, while the NASDAQ jumped 180.92 points or 1.31 percent to end at 14,038.76 and the S&P 500 gained 45.76 points or 1.11 percent to close at 4,170.42.

The rally on Wall Street followed a batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing retail sales spiked much more than expected in March. A separate report from by the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back much more than expected last week.

Also, The National Association of Home Builders noted a modest increase in U.S. homebuilder confidence in April, while the Federal Reserve reported a rebound in industrial production last month.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, extending gains to a fourth straight session, continuing to ride on the recent upward revision in the global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.31 or 0.5 percent at $63.46 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide March numbers for non-oil domestic exports later this morning; in February, exports were up 8.2 percent on month and 4.2 percent on year, with a trade surplus of SGD6.21 billion.