The Singapore stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, slipping almost 25 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,310-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is generally upbeat following the FOMC’s rate decision. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished barely lower on Wednesday following losses from the industrials, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the property sector.
For the day, the index dipped 1.77 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,307.44 after trading between 3,303.52 and 3,323.21.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment climbed 1.16 percent, while City Developments stumbled 1.30 percent, Comfort DelGro sank 0.74 percent, DBS Group and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both collected 0.28 percent, Emperador skidded 1.15 percent, Hongkong Land rose 0.30 percent, Keppel Ltd dropped 0.75 percent, SATS declined 1.37 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.73 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.60 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 0.25 percent, Thai Beverage plummeted 3.92 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Financial retreated 1.39 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slumped 1.23 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Genting Singapore, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, SingTel, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, Frasers Logistics and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, although the Dow couldn’t hold its gains and slipped into the red.
The Dow shed 35.21 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 38,712.21, while the NASDAQ rallied 264.89 points or 1.53 percent to close at 17,608.44 and the S&P 500 gained 45.71 points or 0.85 percent to end at 5,421.03.
The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices were unexpectedly flat in May, which led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
But later in the day, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement revealed that officials now expect only one interest rate cut this year.
The Fed acknowledged modest further progress toward its inflation objective in recent months but said officials still need greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target before they will consider lowering rates.
Oil prices climbed higher Wednesday on hopes of increased demand and tighter supply conditions later in the year, as well as a weak dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July rose $0.60 at $78.50 a barrel. – RTT News
