Singapore Stock Market May Ebb On Friday

The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, falling more than 55 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,760-point plateau and it may be stuck in neutral again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat, and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the property stocks and mixed performances from the financials and industrials.

For the day, the index shed 16.74 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 3,762.88 after trading between 3,739.49 and 3,776.43.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dipped 0.52 percent, while CapitaLand Investment plummeted 1.92 percent, City Developments slid 0.59 percent, Comfort DelGro fell 0.69 percent, DBS Group perked 0.07 percent, DFI Retail rose 0.43 percent, Emperador weakened 1.19 percent, Genting Singapore declined 1.32 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 1.13 percent, Keppel Ltd shed 0.74 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust stumbled 1.65 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust tanked 1.80 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.89 percent, SATS eased 0.28 percent, Seatrium Limited retreated 1.52 percent, SembCorp Industries lost 0.73 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.44 percent, SingTel plunged 1.90 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.77 percent, Wilmar International skidded 0.99 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.85 percent and Yangzijiang Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher Thursday on bargain hunting but faded as the day progressed, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 15.37 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 42,342.24, while the NASDAQ dipped 19.93 points or 0.10 percent to close at 19,372.77 and the S&P 500 eased 5.08 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,867.08.

The initial strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels after Wednesday’s steep losses, which saw the Dow tumble to its lowest closing level in over a month.

Wednesday’s sell-off came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter-point but forecast rate cuts fewer than expected next year.

Upbeat economic data supported for the Fed’s cautious approach to further rate cuts after the Commerce Department said GDP surged more than expected in Q3. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits pulled back more than expected last week.

Crude oil futures were down on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar after the Federal Reserve signaled fewer interest rate cuts next year than had been expected. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January closed down $0.67 or 0.95 percent at $69.91 a barrel.