Another Soft Start Likely For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market has closed lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 90 points or 3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,140-point plateau and it’s tipped to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on fears of n economic slowdown and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index sank 42.38 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 3,139.35 after trading between 3,138.54 and 3,165.54. There were 1.65 billion shares worth 1.44 billion Singapore dollars. There were 407 decliners and 151 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT eased 0.71 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust slid 0.90 percent, CapitaLand Investment dipped 0.78 percent, City Developments tumbled 2.30 percent, Comfort DelGro skidded 1.40 percent, DBS Group was down 0.76 percent, Genting Singapore declined 1.94 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 2.55 percent, Keppel Corp tanked 2.32 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust sank 1.10 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust skidded 1.20 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust retreated 1.80 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 1.38 percent, SATS surrendered 2.20 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.36 percent, Singapore Exchange fell 0.93 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering weakened 1.47 percent, SingTel added 0.79 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 1.49 percent, United Overseas Bank stumbled 1.70 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.97 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 4.00 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 1.01 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened sharply lower on Monday and only got worse as the day progressed, ending deep in the red.

The Dow plummeted 876.05 points or 2.79 percent to finish at 30,516 billion baht, while the NASDAQ plunged 530.80 points or 4.68 percent to close at 10,809.23 and the S&P 500 dropped 151.23 points or 3.88 percent to close at 3,749.63.

The extended sell-off on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates after last Friday’s report showing a jump in consumer prices.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday, with the central bank expected to continuing raising interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.

While the Fed’s rate hikes have been widely anticipated for months, traders seem increasingly concerned tighter monetary policy could trigger a period of stagflation or an outright recession.

Crude oil futures rebounded from early losses and settled modestly higher on Monday as concerns about global supplies outweighed demand worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.26 or 0.2 percent at $120.93 a barrel.