Singapore Shares Expected To Snap Losing Streak

Ahead of the long break for the Lunar New Year, the Singapore stock market had finished lower in two straight sessions, sliding more than 25 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,245-point plateau although they figure to find support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains upbeat following brutal losses last week, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the properties and mixed performances from the financial shares and industrials.

For the day, the index lost 13.70 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 3,246.33 after trading between 3,245.15 and 3,272.59. Volume was 1.13 billion shares worth 2.15 billion Singapore dollars. There were 256 decliners and 214 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT shed 0.71 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust stumbled 1.02 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.55 percent, Dairy Farm International sank 0.74 percent, DBS Group skidded 1.25 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.69 percent, Hongkong Land dropped 0.73 percent, Keppel Corp surged 6.05 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust plummeted 2.16 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 1.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.32 percent, SATS declined 1.28 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 1.33 percent, Singapore Exchange retreated 1.27 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering weakened 0.81 percent, SingTel tanked 1.60 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.60 percent, Wilmar International added 0.71 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slumped 0.78 percent and Singapore Airlines, Singapore Press Holdings and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off some early weakness on Wednesday before moving firmly higher for the fourth straight session.

The Dow jumped 224.09 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 35,629.33, while the NASDAQ advanced 71.54 points or 0.50 percent to close at 14,417.55 and the S&P 500 spiked 42.84 points or 0.94 percent to end at 4,589.38.

The continued strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings from some big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Traders also reacted to a report from payroll processor ADP that showed an unexpectedly sharp pullback in U.S. private sector employment last month. On Friday, the Labor Department will release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.

Crude oil futures inched higher Wednesday, supported by data showing a drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. However, the rise was just marginal as OPEC and its allies approved another 400,000 barrels per day in production that will begin in March. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up by $0.06 or 0.1 percent at $88.26 a barrel.