Rebound Predicted For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,070-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive, although technology companies may fall under pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move into the green.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and industrials, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index sank 11.71 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 3,072.99 after trading between 3,067.30 and 3,086.44.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tanked 1.62 percent, while CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.98 percent, City Developments gained 0.48 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 3.01 percent, DBS Group eased 0.06 percent, Emperador rallied 0.97 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.55 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 0.94 percent, Keppel Corp surged 3.73 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation retreated 1.18 percent, SATS declined 1.12 percent, Seatrium Limited plunged 1.87 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.39 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.27 percent, SingTel advanced 0.87 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 0.99 percent, Wilmar International and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both tumbled 1.36 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.59 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Ascendas REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, with the Dow remaining solidly in the green throughout the session. The NASDAQ quickly turned lower and stayed in the red, while the S&P also fell into negative territory but staged a late rally into positive territory.

The Dow surged 520.47 points or 1.47 percent to finish at 35,950.89, while the NASDAQ slumped 32.27 points or 0.23 percent to close at 14,226.22 and the S&P 500 added 17.22 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,567.80.

The surge by the Dow was due in large part to a spike by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud software company soaring by 9.4 percent after it reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and provided upbeat guidance.

Meanwhile, the decrease by the NASDAQ came amid a rebound by treasury yields, as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bounced off its lowest levels in over two months.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with estimates in October.

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday despite an announcement from OPEC that members have agreed to voluntarily output cuts for the first quarter of 2024. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.90 or 2.4 percent at $75.96 a barrel.