Additional Support Expected For Singapore Shares

The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 20 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,880-point plateau and it’s tipped to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the green and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 7.96 points or 0.21 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,882.58 after trading as low as 3,864.38.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slumped 1.02 percent, while CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.62 percent, Comfort DelGro plunged 2.16 percent, DBS Group was up 0.22 percent, Genting Singapore strengthened 1.34 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.48 percent, Keppel DC REIT tumbled 1.82 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.74 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dropped 0.98 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.83 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.29 percent, SATS rallied 1.51 percent, Seatrium Limited skyrocketed 10.87 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 1.33 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.40 percent, SingTel fell 0.29 percent, Thai Beverage plummeted 2.91 percent, Wilmar International shed 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 1.96 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.65 percent and City Developments, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, UOL Group, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, Emperador and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but only continued to strengthen as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 342.87 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,711.43, while the NASDAQ surged 295.69 points or 1.50 percent to close at 19,945.64 and the S&P 500 rallied 63.10 points or 1.04 percent to end at 6,115.07.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released its report on producer price inflation in January. While the headline number rose by more than expected, components of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation reading were relatively tame.

The data helped to ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates after Wednesday’s consumer price numbers came in hitter than expected.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by slightly more than expected last week.

Closer to home, Singapore also will release Q4 GDP data later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 4.1 percent on year, easing from 4.3 percent in the three months prior.