Singapore Stock Market Poised To Add To Its Winnings

The Singapore stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 25 points or 0.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,120-point plateau and it’s expected to extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, led by a strong rebound in energy stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index gained 7.80 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 3,119.00 after trading between 3,107.25 and 3,130.76. Volume was 1.75 billion shares worth 1.52 billion Singapore dollars. There were 283 decliners and 204 gainers.

Among the actives, CapitaLand surged 3.09 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust both declined 0.48 percent, City Developments advanced 0.44 percent, Comfort DelGro retreated 0.64 percent, Dairy Farm International shed 0.24 percent, DBS Group and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both collected 0.34 percent, Genting Singapore plummeted 1.83 percent, Keppel Corp added 0.39 percent, SATS plunged 1.31 percent, SembCorp Industries tumbled 0.96 percent, Singapore Airlines tanked 1.03 percent, Singapore Exchange spiked 1.84 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 0.25 percent, SingTel sank 0.45 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.23 percent, Wilmar International skidded 0.89 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Ascendas REIT, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Thai Beverage and Singapore Press Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained firmly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 286.01 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 34,798.00, while the NASDAQ climbed 133.08 points or 0.92 percent to end at 14,631.95 and the S&P 500 added 35.63 points or 0.82 percent to close at 4,358.69.

The continued strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from several big-name companies including Coca-Cola (KO), Verizon (VZ) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), although Netflix (NFLX) disappointed.

Energy stocks spiked as crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Wednesday, rebounding strongly after suffering a sharp drop earlier in the week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended up $3.10 or 4.6 percent at $70.30 a barrel.

Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index continued to rebound after ending Monday’s trading at a five-month closing low.