The Singapore stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had added more than a dozen points or 0.4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,040-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on sinking crude oil prices and on the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index dropped 29.50 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 3,041.73 after trading between 3,038.15 and 3,075.46.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT shed 1.28 percent, while City Developments skidded 1.93 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.95 percent, Dairy Farm International fell 1.14 percent, DBS Group declined 1.59 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 4.42 percent, Keppel Corp sank 1.33 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust dipped 0.94 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust surrendered 1.42 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 1.29 percent, SATS lost 1.27 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 1.65 percent, Singapore Airlines stumbled 0.62 percent, Singapore Exchange eased 0.40 percent, Singapore Press Holdings was down 0.52 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slipped 0.79 percent, SingTel added 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage tanked 2.27 percent, United Overseas Bank slid 0.97 percent, Wilmar International weakened 0.73 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 2.70 percent and CapitaLand, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Genting Singapore were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is unfriendly as the major averages opened lower on Monday and sank deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.
The Dow plunged 614.41 points or 1.78 percent to finish at 33,970.47, while the NASDAQ plummeted 330.06 points or 2.19 percent to close at 14,713.90 and the S&P 500 dropped 75.26 points or 1.70 percent to end at 4,357.73.
The weakness on Wall Street came as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to leave monetary policy unchanged but could address the outlook for its asset purchase program.
The minutes of the Fed’s last meeting signaled the central bank was prepared to begin scaling back asset purchases by the end of the year. With some recent disappointing economic data suggesting the Fed could push back its plans, traders will pay close attention to the wording of the post-meeting statement.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Monday as worries about a likely slowdown in global economic growth raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.68 or 2.3 percent at $70.29 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Singapore Bourse May Take Further Damage On Tuesday
2021-09-21 00:00:13
