Singapore Stock Market Predicted To Halt Losing Streak

The Singapore stock market has tracked lower in consecutive trading days, sinking more than 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,200-point plateau although figures to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat ahead of this week’s FOMC meeting and supported by crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dipped 5.65 points or 0.18 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,198.17 after peaking at 3,227.03. Volume was 2.9 billion shares worth 1.3 billion Singapore dollars. There were 243 decliners and 228 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rose 0.32 percent, while City Developments fell 0.27 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.64 percent, Dairy Farm International soared 1.13 percent, DBS Group lost 0.28 percent, Jardine Matheson surged 1,70 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.10 percent, Keppel Corp improved 0.19 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust gained 0.46 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.50 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.51 percent, SembCorp Industries plummeted 1.47 percent, Singapore Exchange was up 0.19 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dropped 0.52 percent, SingTel plunged 1.19 percent, Thai Beverage and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both retreated 0.70 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.19 percent, Wilmar International tanked 0.92 percent and Genting Singapore, CapitaLand, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore Airlines and SATS were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off a lower open on Friday, picking up steam as the session progressed and ending firmly in the green.

The Dow added 89.08 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 35,819.56, while the NASDAQ gained 50.27 points or 0.33 percent to close at 15,498.39 and the S&P 500 rose 8.96 points or 0.19 percent to end at 4,605.38. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.7 percent, the S&P gained 1.3 percent and the Dow was up 0.4 percent.

A negative reaction to quarterly results from tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) contributed to the early weakness on Wall Street.

But selling pressure waned over the course of the session as traders were reluctant to make significant bets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting this week. The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said personal income fell more than expected in September. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated slightly less than initially estimated in October.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday on hopes that OPEC and allies will decide to keep supply levels tight. West Texas International Crude oil futures for December rose $0.76 or 0.9 percent at $83.57 a barrel; WTI Crude futures gained more than 11 percent in October.