Singapore Bourse May See Continued Support

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, gathering more than 90 points or 1.8 percent to a fresh record closing high. The Straight Times Index now sits just above the 4,830-point plateau and it may extend its winning streak on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, although any upside is likely to be capped by profit taking and slumping oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index added 20.83 points or 0.43 percent to finish at the daily high of 4,833.34 after trading as low as 4,793.39.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT stumbled 1.39 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell 0.41 percent, CapitaLand Investment and Genting Singapore both slumped 0.68 percent, City Developments slipped 0.33 percent, DBS Group advanced 0.98 percent, DFI Retail Group jumped 1.52 percent, Hongkong Land gained 0.37 percent, Keppel DC REIT retreated 0.88 percent, Keppel Ltd climbed 1.12 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust declined 0.74 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation vaulted 1.19 percent, SATS rallied 1.30 percent, Seatrium Limited added 0.44 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.50 percent, Singapore Exchange and Singapore Airlines both dropped 0.62 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering spiked 1.49 percent, SingTel and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both lost 0.44 percent, United Overseas Bank was down 0.30 percent, UOL Group surged 2.57 percent and Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Thai Beverage and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust were unchanged.

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

The Dow jumped 292.81 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 49,442.44, while the NASDAQ added 58.27 points or 0.25 percent to close at 23,530.02 and the S&P 500 rose 17.87 points or 0.26 percent to end at 6,944.47.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), with the chipmaker surging by 4.4 percent.

Taiwan Semiconductor jumped after reporting a sharp increase in fourth quarter profits and announced larger-than-expected capital spending plans, contributing to renewed confidence in the artificial intelligence trade.

Positive sentiment may also have been generated by a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped last week.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Thursday as the potential for a U.S.-Iran confrontation diminished for the time being. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $2.83 or 4.56 percent at $59.19 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see December figures for non-oil domestic exports later this morning; in November, exports were up 6.6 percent on month and 11.6 percent on year for a trade surplus of SGD7.669 billion.