(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 30 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,130-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with growth concerns warring with interest rate optimism. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and plantations were offset by weakness from the industrials and REITs.
For the day, the index rose 0.93 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 3,133.05 after trading between 3,101.27 and 3,140.04.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust shed 0.53 percent, while CapitaLand Investment skidded 0.96 percent, City Developments stumbled 1.41 percent, DBS Group collected 0.68 percent, Emperador rallied 0.99 percent, Frasers Logistics retreated 1.83 percent, Genting Singapore and Keppel DC REIT both tumbled 2.08 percent, Keppel Corp lost 0.47 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plunged 2.82 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 0.44 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust and UOL Group slumped 1.26 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Jardine Cycle both advanced 0.78 percent, SATS gained 0.37 percent, Seatrium Limited declined 1.82 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.59 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 0.26 percent, Thai Beverage tanked 2.80 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.27 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 3.03 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.68 percent and Ascendas REIT, Comfort DelGro, SingTel and Hongkong Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finishing mixed and little changed.
The Dow dipped 45.74 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 34,945.47, while the NASDAQ rose 9.84 points or 0.07 percent to close at 14,113.67 and the S&P 500 perked 5.36 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,508.24.
A steep drop by shares of Walmart (WMT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) weighed on the Dow, while upticks by the NASDAQ and S&P came as the latest U.S. economic data added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
The Labor Department released a report showing U.S. import and export prices both fell by more than expected in the month of October, capping off an encouraging week of inflation data.
A separate Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims climbed by much more than expected last week, while the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell more than expected in October.
Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on fears of a likely drop in energy demand after soft data from the U.S., Europe and Asia raised worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December tumbled $3.76 or 4.9 percent at $72.90 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will provide October numbers for non-oil domestic exports later today; in September, exports were up 11.1 percent on month and down 13.2 percent on year.
