Singapore Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure On Wednesday

The Singapore stock market has ended lower in three consecutive trading days, tumbling more than 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index sits just above the 3,400-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on geopolitical concerns over escalation of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow a similar path.

The STI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dropped 35.78 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 3,400.58 after trading between 3,394.79 and 3,421.40. Volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 1.1 billion Singapore dollars. There were 363 decliners and 158 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT slumped 1.06 percent, while City Developments weakened 1.10 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 2.00 percent, Dairy Farm International plunged 2.49 percent, DBS Group, SATS and Thai Beverage all lost 0.71 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 1.27 percent, Keppel Corp fell 0.66 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust dipped 0.54 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slid 0.56 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation surrendered 1.42 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.79 percent, Singapore Airlines tanked 2.41 percent, Singapore Exchange sank 0.83 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering retreated 1.30 percent, SingTel shed 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank declined 1.41 percent, Wilmar International stumbled 1.28 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 2.86 percent and Hongkong Land, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Singapore Press Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but saw losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending firmly in the red.

The Dow plunged 482.57 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 33,596.61, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.55 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,381.52 and the S&P 500 dropped 44.11 points or 1.01 percent to close at 4,304.76.

The weakness on Wall Street came after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two Ukrainian separatist regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as sovereign states and sent troops into those territories as “peacekeepers.”

Describing the latest actions by Russia as the beginning of an invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the first tranche of U.S. sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions, VEB and Russia’s military bank, and Russia’s sovereign debt, as well as Russian elites and their family members.

The U.K. also announced a first tranche of sanctions on Russia, targeting five Russian banks and three “very high net worth” individuals.

Oil prices moved up sharply Tuesday on concerns over supplies following Russia’s aggressive move into Ukraine. It is feared that a full-blown conflict in Ukraine could cause major disruption to crude supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.70 or 1.9 percent at $91.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see January data for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent on month and 4.1 percent on year after gaining 0.5 percent on month and 4.0 percent on year in December. Core CPI is expected to rise 2.5 percent on year, up from 2.1 percent in the previous month.

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