Singapore Bourse May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the seven-day losing streak in which it had plunged almost 170 points or 5.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,160-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over the outlook for the economy and for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financials and properties were dented by weakness from the trusts.

For the day, the index rose 5.85 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 3,159.88 after trading between 3,143.90 and 3,165.11.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT dipped 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell 0.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both rose 0.33 percent, City Developments was up 0.15 percent, Comfort DelGro jumped 1.61 percent, DBS Group gained 0.43 percent, Emperador rallied 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.55 percent, Hongkong Land added 0.58 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tumbled 1.32 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.91 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.61 percent, Seatrium Limited advanced 0.75 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 0.94 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.26 percent, SingTel sank 0.85 percent, Thai Beverage surged 2.63 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding spiked 1.81 percent and Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Keppel Corp, SATS, Frasers Logistics and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and quickly turned lower, although the NASDAQ managed to finish in the green.

The Dow dropped 174.86 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 34,288.83, while the NASDAQ rose 8.28 points or 0.06 percent to close at 13,505.87 and the S&P 500 slipped 12.22 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,387.55.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders continued to look ahead to the economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week.

Early volatility in the bond market may also have contributed to the choppy trading, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note showing wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in the U.S. slumped much more than expected in July.

Crude oil futures eased on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September slipped $0.37 or 0.5 percent at $80.35 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide July data for consumer prices later today, with overall inflation expected to rise 4.2 percent on year, easing from 4.5 percent in June. Core CPI is tipped to climb an annual 3.8 percent, down from 4.2 percent in the previous month.