Singapore Stock Market Has Flat Lead For Thursday’s Trade

The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 65 points or 1.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,580-point plateau and it’s likely to remain rangebound again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement as traders keep a watchful eye on the unrest in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were flat with a touch of upside and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the property and mixed performances from the financial shares and industrials.

For the day, the index perked 3.71 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,584.67 after trading between 3,574.61 and 3,599.35.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.47 percent, while CapitaLand Investment spiked 2.27 percent, Comfort DelGro improved 0.67 percent, DBS Group lost 0.32 percent, DFI Retail surged 4.13 percent, Emperador slumped 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.57 percent, Hongkong Land soared 3.45 percent, Keppel Ltd sank 0.60 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust strengthened 1.21 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.68 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.07 percent, SATS accelerated 1.91 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 2.23 percent, SembCorp Industries and UOL Group both rose 0.36 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering climbed 1.08 percent, SingTel dropped 0.62 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 1.90 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.54 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, City Developments, Keppel DC REIT and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests very mild upside as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday, hugged the like throughout the session and finished barely higher.

The Dow added 39.55 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 42,196.52, while the NASDAQ gained 14.76 points or 0.08 percent to close at 17,925.12 and the S&P 500 perked 0.79 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,709.54.

The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflected concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on Tuesday.

While Iran has said it is not interested in a wider war, the attacks have contributed to a surge by the price of crude oil, leading to worries higher energy prices will lead to a spike in inflation.

Waning optimism the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates also weighed on stocks after payroll processor ADP reported stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of September.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Wednesday as traders bet on a likely drop in supplies due the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended up $0.27 or 0.39 percent at $70.10 a barrel.