Singapore Shares May Head South Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 40 points or 0.8 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Straits Times Index sits just beneath the 4,950-point plateau although it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with technology stocks expected to lead the markets lower. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index climbed 51.82 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 4,944.09 after trading between 4,910.40 and 4,948.65.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment climbed 0.97 percent, while City Developments vaulted 1.81 percent, DBS Group collected 0.29 percent, DFI Retail Group accelerated 2.91 percent, Hongkong Land soared 4.71 percent, Keppel DC REIT rose 0.44 percent, Keppel Ltd strengthened 1.30 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.48 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.76 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation advanced 0.85 percent, SATS spiked 2.95 percent, Seatrium Limited gained 0.48 percent, SembCorp Industries added 0.67 percent, Singapore Airlines jumped 1.89 percent, Singapore Exchange rallied 2.51 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering expanded 1.53 percent, SingTel surged 4.74 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 1.04 percent, United Overseas Bank perked 0.08 percent, UOL Group improved 0.83 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.88 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day largely under water.

The Dow dropped 166.67 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 49,240.99, while the NASDAQ tumbled 336.92 points or 1.43 percent to close at 23,255.19 and the S&P 500 sank 58.63 points or 0.84 percent to end at 6,917.81.

The weakness on Wall Street was largely due to a rotation out of technology stocks, as reflected by the steep drop by the NASDAQ.

The U.S. Software Index slumped to its lowest closing level in over nine months, while substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks.

Gold stocks also saw considerable strength amid a significant rebound by the price of the precious metal. Steel, energy and housing stocks also moved notably higher on the day, helping to limit the downside for the broader markets.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar index moved lower, while news of the U.S.-India trade agreement has led to anticipation of a spur in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $1.10 or 1.77 percent at $63.24 per barrel.