Singapore Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 150 points or 3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 5,000-point plateau although it's due for consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished sharply higher on Wednesday with gains across the board, especially among the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index vaulted 66.20 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 5,002.17 after trading between 4,938.23 and 5,017.00.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT perked 0.39 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.84 percent, CapitaLand Investment added 1.05 percent, City Developments rallied 2.67 percent, DBS Group improved 1.19 percent, Hongkong Land was up 0.35 percent, Keppel DC REIT advanced 1.32 percent, Keppel Ltd spiked 3.66 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rose 0.73 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gathered 0.50 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation expanded 1.66 percent, SATS vaulted 2.19 percent, Seatrium Limited elevated 1.26 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 4.27 percent, Singapore Airlines climbed 1.52 percent, Singapore Exchange accelerated 3.36 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering strengthened 1.55 percent, SingTel sank 0.77 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 2.27 percent, United Overseas Bank and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both collected 0.89 percent, UOL Group skyrocketed 4.94 percent, Wilmar International increased 0.52 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 3.79 percent and DFI Retail Group, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70.

The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February.

Following that early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Powell said the U.S. is seeing "some progress on inflation" but "not as much as we had hoped." While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that "you won't see the rate cut" if there isn't further progress on inflation.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after Iraq said it has resumed oil production, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by going through Turkey. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery eased $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.39 per barrel.