Mild Upside Seen For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 55 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,140-point plateau although it may inch higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The European shares were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the trusts and mixed performances from the financials, properties and industrials.

For the day, the index shed 13.24 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 3,142.91 after trading between 3,138.22 and 3,165.33.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT slumped 1.30 percent, while CapitaLand Investment stumbled 1.38 percent, DBS Group perked 0.03 percent, Emperador sank 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 1.96 percent, Hongkong Land rallied 1.57 percent, Keppel DC REIT surged 3.64 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.56 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dropped 1.24 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.66 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.08 percent, SATS tanked 2.15 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted 2.17 percent, SembCorp Industries declined 1.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.79 percent, SingTel skidded 1.27 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 1.01 percent, Wilmar International plunged 2.40 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.59 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped 1.86 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, City Developments, Comfort DelGro and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but spent much of the day in the red before finally settling with slight gains. Despite the choppy trading, the S&P 500 and the Dow reached new record closing highs.

The Dow added 48.91 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 38,726.33, while the NASDAQ gained 37.07 points or 0.24 percent to end at 15,793.71 and the S&P 500 rose 2.85 points or 0.06 percent to close at 4,997.91.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about whether the markets can sustain their recent upward trend.

Traders also reacted to the latest earnings news as Arm Holdings (ARM) and entertainment giant Disney (DIS) surged after solid results, while PayPal (PYPL) tumbled after providing a disappointing forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday, gaining for a fourth straight session as escalating tensions in the Middle East raised concerns about potential trade and supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.1 percent at $76.22 a barrel.