Singapore Stock Market Tipped To Open Higher On Friday

Ahead of Thursday’s holiday for Diwali, the Singapore stock market had halted the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 35 points or 1.1 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,220-point plateau although it’s expected to find renewed support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests lid upside, with optimism over interest rates offset by weakness from crude oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index sank 12.68 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 3,219.69 after trading between 3,216.86 and 3,236.86. Volume was 1.59 billion shares worth 1.23 billion Singapore dollars. There were 246 decliners and 199 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT climbed 0.97 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.46 percent, City Developments was up 0.14 percent, Dairy Farm International plunged 2.25 percent, DBS Group rose 0.34 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.63 percent, Jardine Matheson plummeted 3.35 percent, Keppel Corp and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both surrendered 0.75 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust slid 0.28 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tanked 1.00 percent, SATS skidded 0.48 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 1.48 percent, Singapore Airlines added 0.58 percent, Singapore Exchange tumbled 0.93 percent, Singapore Press Holdings sank 0.47 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering retreated 0.52 percent, SingTel shed 0.40 percent, Thai Beverage and United Overseas Bank both declined 0.69 percent, Wilmar International eased 0.22 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Genting Singapore, Comfort DelGro, CapitaLand and Venture Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both opened higher and stayed that way to hit fresh record closing highs, while the Dow opened lower and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow shed 33.35 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 36,124.23, while the NASDAQ jumped 128.72 points or 0.81 percent to close at 15.940.31 and the S&P added 19.49 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,680.06.

Another batch of earnings news was a driving factor as strong results from chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) helped to send the NASDAQ higher, while losses by Dow Inc. (DOW), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Travelers (TRV) contributed to the modest pullback by the Dow.

Traders also continued to react positively to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement, with the central bank announcing plans to scale back its asset purchases but signaling it won’t be in a hurry to begin raising interest rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in September.

Crude oil prices tumbled and settled at their lowest level in nearly a month on Thursday after OPEC decided to stick with its plan to raise oil output modestly and gradually. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $2.05 or 2.5 percent at $78.81 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide September data for retail sales later today; in August, sales were down 2.8 percent on year.