The Singapore stock market has tracked lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,200-point plateau and it’s expected to open in the red again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, although losses from the technology stocks may be mitigated by support from the oil companies. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index dropped 19.87 points or 0.62 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,198.10 after peaking at 3,221.29.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment surrendered 1.47 percent, while City Developments tanked 1.52 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.72 percent, DBS Group skidded 0.92 percent, Emperador jumped 1.12 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 0.96 percent, Keppel DC REIT plummeted 1.75 percent, Keppel Ltd sank 0.68 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tumbled 1.37 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.15 percent, SATS shed 0.40 percent, Seatrium Limited retreated 1.27 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.19 percent, SingTel dropped 0.79 percent, Thai Beverage declined 1.02 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 1.54 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 1.08 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Wilmar International, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Genting Singapore and Singapore Technologies Engineering were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened in the red on Monday and largely remained under water throughout the trading day.
The Dow dropped 162.26 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 39,313.64, while the NASDAQ sank 44.35 points or 0.27 percent to close at 16,384.47 and the S&P 500 fell 15.99 points or 0.31 percent to end at 5,218.19.
Weakness among technology stocks weighed on the markets, with semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) plunging by as much as 4.7 percent after reports suggested that China has introduced new guidelines to phase microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) out of government PCs and servers.
Selling pressure remained relatively subdued, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days, including key inflation numbers on Friday.
In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing new home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in February.
Oil prices moved higher on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions after Ukraine continued to attack Russian refineries. A weak dollar amid expectations of interest rate cuts by central banks contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.32 or 1.64 percent at $81.95 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will provide February data for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 4.5 percent on month and 0.2 percent on year following the 5.7 percent monthly decline and the 1.1 percent yearly increase in January. — RTT News
