The Singapore stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 0.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,140-point plateau and it’s likely to be fairly rangebound again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support from oil and technology stocks offset by ongoing Covid-19 concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the industrials and properties, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index was up 2.94 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 3,141.75 after trading between 3,119.89 and 3,150.87. Volume was 1.35 billion shares worth 1.24 billion Singapore dollars. There were 264 gainers and 216 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT soared 0.98 percent, while CapitaLand and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both collected 0.25 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 0.48 percent, City Developments jumped 0.58 percent, Dairy Farm International dropped 0.50 percent, DBS Group and Keppel Corp both climbed 0.57 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust spiked 0.95 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust surged 1.45 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.47 percent, Singapore Airlines rose 0.20 percent, Singapore Exchange gained 0.43 percent, Singapore Press Holdings improved 1.09 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.51 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.08 percent, Wilmar International shed 0.45 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Genting Singapore, Thai Beverage, SATS, SingTel and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is schizophrenic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday before the NASDAQ moved higher, the Dow moved lower and the S&P straddled the line.
The Dow dropped 127.59 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 34,930.93, while the NASDAQ climbed 102.01 points or 0.70 percent to end at 14,762.58 and the S&P 500 eased 0.82 points or 0.02 percent to close at 4,400.64.
The mixed picture on Wall Street came as technology stocks advanced, riding on strong results from Apple Inc, Alphabet and Microsoft.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting Wednesday afternoon, left the target range for its federal funds rate unchanged at 0 to 0.25 percent as expected, and said it will continue with its $120 billion-a-month bond-buying program.
The bank, which said the economy is strengthening despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, added that risks to the economic outlook remain.
Crude oil prices moved higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.74 or 1 percent at $72.39 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will provide June figures for import and export prices later today, as well as producer prices. In May, import prices rose 13.9 percent on year and export prices climbed 9.6 percent. Producer prices spiked an annual 18.1 percent.
Market Analysis
Mild Upside Called For Singapore Stock Market
2021-07-29 00:00:20
