(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,300-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, matching the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the industrials and properties, while the financial sector came in mixed.
For the day, the index dipped 3.15 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,300.04 after trading between 3,296.12 and 3,312.77.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.52 percent, CapitaLand Investment plummeted 1.89 percent, City Developments declined 0.84 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.39 percent, DBS Group collected 0.34 percent, Emperador climbed 1.16 percent, Hongkong Land slumped 0.61 percent, Keppel DC REIT advanced 0.58 percent, Keppel Ltd plunged 1.61 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 0.45 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 0.58 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.07 percent, SATS added 0.40 percent, SembCorp Industries tanked 1.51 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slid 0.25 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.24 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.58 percent and Genting Singapore, Yangzijiang Financial, Seatrium Limited, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, SingTel, Thai Beverage and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but faded to finish mixed and barely changed.
The Dow added 31.99 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 38,884.26, while the NASDAQ slipped 16.69 points or 0.10 percent to close at 16,332.56 and the S&P 500 rose 6.96 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,187.70.
The modest strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
Relatively dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell combined with weaker-than-expected job growth in April have largely eliminated short-lived concerns the Fed might actually consider raising rates.
However, buying interest waned in afternoon trading after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari suggested interest rates may need to remain at current levels for an "extended period."
Oil futures settled slightly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.10 at $78.38 a barrel.
