The Singapore stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 90 points or 3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,100-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns over rising inflation and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index retreated 38.42 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 3,104.21 after trading between 3,100.95 and 3,133.12, Volume was 1.41 billion shares worth 1.25 billion Singapore dollars. There were 256 decliners and 125 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was down 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand sank 1.66 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Mapletree Commercial Trust both slipped 0.48 percent, City Developments surrendered 1.86 percent, Comfort DelGro plunged 3.01 percent, Dairy Farm International gained 0.46 percent, DBS Group shed 1.38 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 2.48 percent, Keppel Corp tanked 2.81 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dipped 0.51 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation weakened 1.73 percent, SATS dropped 1.57 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 2.44 percent, Singapore Airlines plummeted 3.29 percent, Singapore Exchange slid 0.68 percent, Singapore Press Holdings added 0.60 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 1.31 percent, United Overseas Bank lost 1.36 percent, Wilmar International declined 2.43 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 2.72 percent and SingTel, Thai Beverage and Jardine Strategic Holdings were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened firmly in the red on Wednesday, pared some of the losses but still ended in negative territory.
The Dow shed 164.62 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 33,896.04, while the NASDAQ eased 3.90 points or 0.03 percent to end at 13,299.74 and the S&P 500 fell 12.15 points or 0.29 percent to close at 4,115.68.
The lower open on Wall Street preceded the release of minutes from the FOMC’s latest meeting, which showed that members debated whether or not increasing inflation may be more than “transitory.”
The minutes also showed that the central bank may start to discuss when to start rolling back asset purchases, especially as the country continues to make headway against Covid-19.
The European Central Bank could decide to scale back its emergency bond-buying program as early as next month.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Wednesday, weighed down by an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles, and on worries about outlook for energy demand from Asian countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $2.13 or 3.3 percent at $63.36 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Singapore Shares Predicted To Open Under Pressure
2021-05-20 00:00:07
