Singapore Stock Market Expected To Open In The Green

The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the en of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,220-point plateau and it’s tipped to add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates and support from technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials nd REITS were capped by weakness from the industrials and properties.

For the day, the index added 10.53 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 3,218.28 after trading between 3,200.42 and 3,221.18.

Among the actives, Hongkong Land plunged 3.30 percent, while Comfort DelGro surged 1.60 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tumbled 1.37 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 1.17 percent, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT jumped 1.08 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust climbed 1.06 percent, SingTel advanced 0.86 percent, Thai Beverage improved 0.85 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.80 percent, DBS Group added 0.78 percent, Seatrium slumped 0.71 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust gained 0.68 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rose 0.60 percent, Keppel Corp gathered 0.59 percent, SATS sank 0.39 percent, CapitaLand Investment perked 0.32 percent, City Developments dipped 0.30 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.27 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering eased 0.26 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Industrial, Frasers Logistics, Keppel DC REIT and Emperador were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow advanced 87.13 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 34,663.72, while the NASDAQ spiked 156.37 points or 1.14 percent to close at 13,917.89 and the S&P 500 gained 29.97 points or 0.67 percent to end at 4,487.46.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ received a boost from a surge by shares of Tesla (TSLA), with the electric car maker spiking by 10.1 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Overweight from Equal-Weight.

The overall strength on Wall Street partly reflected easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates after reports suggested a shift in Federal Reserve officials’ stance on rates.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 93.0 chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged next week. The outlook for November is a little more uncertain, however, with the FedWatch Tool indicating a 54.5 percent chance rates will remain unchanged and a 42.6 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, retreating from last week’s 10-month highs on concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $87.29 a barrel.