Additional Support Expected For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market on Thursday halted the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than 40 points or 1.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,335-point plateau and it’s likely to add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected especially from oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the industrials, plantations and properties, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 14.42 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 3,335.09 after trading between 3,315.07 and 3,344.24. Volume was 2.81 billion shares worth 1.60 billion Singapore dollars. There were 260 gainers and 209 decliners.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.43 percent, while CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.96 percent, City Developments and Fraser Logistics both added 0.69 percent, Comfort DelGro and Wilmar International both slumped 0.68 percent, Dairy Farm International soared 3.03 percent, DBS Group gained 0.33 percent, Genting Singapore strengthened 1.25 percent, Hongkong Land surged 3.26 percent, Jardine Cycle skyrocketed 8.46 percent, Keppel Corp spiked 3.00 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust advanced 1.07 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.76 percent, SATS improved 0.86 percent, SembCorp Industries accelerated 2.79 percent, Singapore Airlines and SingTel both lost 0.36 percent, Singapore Exchange eased 0.10 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rallied 1.98 percent, United Overseas Bank tumbled 1.37 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding climbed 1.14 percent and Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Ascendas REIT and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened modestly higher on Thursday but accelerated throughout the day, finishing near session highs.

The Dow surged 614.46 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 33,916.39, while the NASDAQ soared 382.59 points or 3.06 percent to close at 12,871.53 and the S&P 500 spiked 103.54 points or 2.47 percent to end at 4,287.50.

The rally on Wall Street came as upbeat earnings news overshadowed a disappointing report on the U.S. economy; results from companies like Meta (FB), Qualcomm (QCOM), McDonald’s (MCD), Merck (MRK), and Eli Lilly (LLY) led the way.

Meanwhile, traders seemed to shrug off a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic activity unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter of 2022.

Some traders may have interpreted the data as a sign the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as aggressively as currently expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Thursday amid concerns over supply due to the possible impact of sanctions on Russia’s crude oil production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $3.34 or 3.3 percent at $105.36 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release March figures for import prices, export prices and producer prices later today. In February, import prices jumped 16.2 percent on year, while export prices gained an annual 19.3 percent and producer prices spiked 22.4 percent on year.