Singapore Shares Expected To Remain Rangebound On Friday

The Singapore stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 35 points or 1.1 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,135-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index dipped 2.36 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 3,133.78 after trading between 3,125.64 and 3,149.35.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT and CapitaLand Investment both lost 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust plunged 1.55 percent, City Developments advanced 0.71 percent, DBS Group collected 0.57 percent, Emperador retreated 0.99 percent, Genting Singapore plummeted 2.19 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.94 percent, Keppel DC REIT tanked 1.18 percent, Keppel Ltd sank 0.42 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust climbed 0.77 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust dropped 0.68 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation declined 0.83 percent, SATS slumped 0.77 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.10 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.20 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.51 percent, SingTel rallied 1.28 percent, UOL Group jumped 1.63 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 4.49 percent and Thai Beverage, Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Frasers Logistics, Venture Corporation, Comfort DelGro and Mapletree Industrial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session, with the S&P and NASDAQ hitting fresh closing highs.

The Dow climbed130.30 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 38,791.35, while the NASDAQ surged 2.41.83 points or 1.51 percent to end at 16,273.38 and the S&P 500 rallied 52.60 points or 1.03 percent to close at 5,157.36.

The extended rebound on Wall Street came on optimism about the outlook for interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Thursday that rate cuts “can and will” begin this year.

Adding to the optimism about interest rates, the European Central Bank lowered its annual inflation forecast while announcing its widely expected decision to leave rates unchanged.

Potentially adding to the buying interest on Wall Street, treasury yields saw further downside on the day, with the ten-year yield falling to its lowest closing level in a month.

Oil prices drifted lower on Thursday amid some concerns about the outlook for demand, although the downside was limited by a weaker greenback. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April fell $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $78.93 a barrel.