Singapore Bourse Overdue For Support On Wednesday

The Singapore stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, retreating more than 255 points or 7.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,200-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after recent volatility, with bargain hunting expected. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index slumped 45.23 points or 1.39 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,198.44 after peaking at 3,274.12.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust declined 1.45 percent, while CapitaLand Investment and DBS Group both surrendered 1.56 percent, City Developments sank 0.97 percent, Genting Singapore shed 0.62 percent, Keppel DC REIT lost 0.49 percent, Keppel Ltd retreated 1.50 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tumbled 1.53 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 0.45 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slumped 1.28 percent, SATS advanced 0.99 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 3.40 percent, SembCorp Industries stumbled 1.33 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering skidded 1.18 percent, SingTel tanked 2.06 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 1.02 percent, Wilmar International plunged 2.59 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 1.74 percent and Emperador, Comfort DelGro, Yangzijiang Financial, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, Hongkong Land and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 294.39 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 38,997.66, while the NASDAQ rallied 166.77 points or 1.03 percent to end at 16,366.85 and the S&P 500 gained 53.70 points or 1.04 percent to close at 5,240.03.

The support on Wall Street came as investors picked up stocks at reduced levels following Monday’s data-induced heavy selling.

Investors also reacted positively to the latest batch of corporate earnings news from the likes of Uber, CSX, Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Microsoft and JP Morgan Chase, among others.

Economic data was also better as the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June. Also, the Atlanta Fed raised its third quarter growth projection for the U.S. economy, citing latest economic data.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Tuesday, snapping a four-session losing streak, as the shutdown of Libya’s 270,000 barrel per day Sharara oil field offered mild support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.26 or 0.36 percent at $73.20 a barrel.