The Singapore stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 80 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,530-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index added 18.50 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 3,531.17 after trading between 3,517.56 and 3,536.12.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 1.42 percent, while CapitaLand Investment surged 2.15 percent, City Developments was up 0.19 percent, Comfort DelGro gained 0.68 percent, DBS Group collected 0.30 percent, Emperador rallied 1.16 percent, Hongkong Land improved 0.82 percent, Keppel DC REIT advanced 0.93 percent, Keppel Ltd perked 0.33 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust added 0.70 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust increased 0.80 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation picked up 0.20 percent, SATS gathered 0.54 percent, Seatrium Limited rose 0.64 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 1.00 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering accelerated 1.35 percent, SingTel soared 1.54 percent, Venture Corporation fell 0.22 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 2.00 percent and Thai Beverage, Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, DFI Retail Group, Genting Singapore and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and trended steadily higher throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.75 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 40,861.71, while the NASDAQ surged 369.65 points or 2.17 percent to end at 17,395.53 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.61 points or 1.07 percent to close at 5,554.13.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched consumer price inflation report for August.

While the report showed consumer prices increased in line with economist estimates, core consumer prices rose slightly more than expected.

Stocks moved sharply lower as the data seemingly reduced the chances that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates by 50 basis points next week. But selling pressure waned dramatically over the course session as the Fed is still expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months.

Crude oil prices surged higher on Wednesday, recovering from a three-year low in the previous session thanks to fears of prolonged production shutdowns in the offshore oil patch due to Hurricane Francine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $1.56 or 2.37 percent at $67.31 a barrel. — RTT News