The Singapore stock market may experience another day of downward pressure on Monday as the global interest rate outlook continues to weigh on investor sentiment. Following a modest two-day upswing that added close to 20 points or 0.6% to the Straits Times Index (STI), the index fell on Friday by 11.54 points, or 0.32%, to end at 3,593.41. This decline affected financial stocks, property trusts, and real estate shares, while industrials posted mixed results.

Active stocks on Friday included significant declines for Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, which fell 4.96%, and SembCorp Industries, which dropped 1.13%. DBS Group and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation each saw modest losses, at 0.38% and 0.52%, respectively. However, some stocks did show resilience; Keppel Ltd gained 0.62%, and Singapore Technologies Engineering saw a slight increase of 0.43%. SATS experienced a substantial 7.22% jump.

Meanwhile, Wall Street's mixed results on Friday—where the Dow Jones declined by 0.61% and the S&P 500 edged down by 0.03%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.56%—highlighted concerns over lingering interest rate uncertainty in the US. Treasury yields rebounded late in the session, reflecting investor worries that the Federal Reserve may adopt a slower approach to lowering rates. Oil prices also surged, with West Texas Intermediate crude rising by 2.3% to US$71.78 a barrel amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and potential production adjustments by OPEC.

With global markets grappling with these pressures, Singapore's market may face additional hurdles in the near term, as investors navigate interest rate expectations and external economic forces.

RTTNews