The Singapore stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the five-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 40 points or 1.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,330-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with oil and technology stocks likely to drag the bourses lower. The European and U.S. markets finished with mild losses and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index lost 10.55 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 3,332.80 after trading between 3,330.58 and 3,346.81.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT advanced 0.79 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust jumped 1.54 percent, CapitaLand Investment added 0.38 percent, City Developments tumbled 1.34 percent, DBS Group sank 0.72 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.57 percent, Hongkong Land shed 0.62 percent, Keppel DC REIT rallied 1.12 percent, Keppel Ltd dropped 0.77 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slid 0.47 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.55 percent, SATS dipped 0.35 percent, Seatrium Limited skyrocketed 1,900.00 percent, SembCorp Industries plummeted 3.22 percent, Thai Beverage stumbled 1.10 percent, Wilmar International skidded 0.96 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slumped 0.81 percent and Singapore Technologies Engineering, SingTel, Yangzijiang Financial, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Comfort DelGro and Emperador were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but faded throughout the day and ended mildly under water.
The Dow shed 45.24 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,118.86, while the NASDAQ slumped 126.10 points or 0.71 percent to close at 17,732.60 and the S&P 500 sank 22.39 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,460.48.
For the week, the NASDAQ rose 0.2 percent but the Dow and the S&P 500 both eased 0.1 percent. However, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 posted substantial gains for the first half of 2024.
The early strength on Wall Street followed a Commerce Department report showing inflation in May matched estimates, generating renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
The subsequent pullback by the markets may have reflected a negative reaction to a turnaround by treasury yields, which initially moved lower following the release of the data but subsequently rebounded firmly into positive territory.
Oil prices showed a modest move to the downside on Friday, coming down from a two-month high on profit taking. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dipped $0.20 or 0.2 percent to $81.54 a barrel. — RTT News
