Singapore Bourse May Remain Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 40 points or 0.9 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 4,380-point plateau although it may spin its wheels again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with optimism over earnings likely offset by profit taking. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks, REITs and industrials.

For the day, the index climbed 52.12 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 4,381.05 after trading between 4,373.38 and 4,400.39.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT and United Overseas Bank both gathered 0.70 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.84 percent, City Developments climbed 1.29 percent, DBS Group picked up 0.63 percent, DFI Retail Group rallied 1.77 percent, Genting Singapore vaulted 1.38 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.81 percent, Keppel DC REIT improved 1.28 percent, Keppel Ltd strengthened 1.60 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust perked 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rose 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.60 percent, SATS increased 1.19 percent, Seatrium Limited expanded 1.46 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 2.41 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering accelerated 1.85 percent, SingTel jumped 1.66 percent, Thai Beverage soared 2.08 percent, UOL Group advanced 1.14 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.34 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 1.92 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding skyrocketed 2.52 percent and CapitaLand Investment and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday and hugged the line for most of the day, finally finishing on opposite sides and little changed.

The Dow gained 218.16 points or 0.47 percent to finish at a record 46,924.74, while the NASDAQ slipped 36.88 points or 0.16 percent to end at 22,953.67 and the S&P 500 perked 0.22 points or 0.00 percent to close at 6,735.35.

The advanced by the Dow reflected a positive reaction to solid earnings news from companies like 3M (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO), Salesforce (CRM), Amazon (AMZN) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW).

Traders may have been reluctant to continue buying stocks amid lingering concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and the ongoing government shutdown.

A lack of major U.S. economic data due in part to the shutdown may also have kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Friday.

Crude oil prices advanced on Tuesday as easing U.S.-China trade friction overrode a stronger greenback and excess supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.38 or 0.66 percent at $57.90 per barrel.