The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping almost 40 points or 1.1% along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,710-point plateau and is looking at another soft start on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed, and the US bourses were slightly soft, with the Asian markets likely to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the properties and industrials, while the financials and trusts were mixed.For the day, the index dipped 4.30 points or 0.12% to finish at 3,708.09 after trading between 3,699.77 and 3,727.39.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment tumbled 1.47%, while City Developments and SembCorp Industries both sank 0.19%, Comfort DelGro retreated 0.68%, DBS Group collected 0.34%, Genting Singapore and Wilmar International both declined 0.65%, Hongkong Land tanked 1.71%, Keppel DC REIT rallied 1.33%, Keppel Ltd lost 0.15%, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.43%, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.12%, SATS advanced 0.52%, Singapore Technologies Engineering plunged 1.98%, SingTel rose 0.33%, Thai Beverage jumped 1.85%, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 3.56%, and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Seatrium Limited, Emperador, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Yangzijiang Financial, and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but all trended lower as the day progressed and ended in the red.

The Dow dropped 138.25 points or 0.31% to finish at 44,722.06, while the NASDAQ slumped 115.10 points or 0.60% to close at 19,060.48, and the S&P 500 sank 22.89 points or 0.38% to end at 5,998.74.

The pullback by the NASDAQ was fueled by substantial weakness among computer hardware stocks, led lower by PC makers Dell Technologies (DELL) and HP Inc (HPQ) after providing disappointing earnings guidance.

Weakness among semiconductor and networking stocks also weighed on the NASDAQ, while biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside.

The weakness in the broader markets came after the Commerce Department released closely watched inflation data that matched expectations. While the faster annual price growth was in line with estimates, the acceleration raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil moved slightly lower on Wednesday as traders weighed news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah against data showing a bigger-than-expected drop in US crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery eased US$0.05 or 0.1% to US$68.72 a barrel.

RTTNews