The Singapore stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 35 points or 1 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,440-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with heavy damage expected among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open under pressure.
The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the properties, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the industrials.
For the day, the index eased 2.41 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 3,441.77 after trading between 3,435.30 and 3,453.08.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment slumped 1.09 percent, while City Developments sank 0.75 percent, DBS Group added 0.63 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 1.80 percent, Keppel DC REIT spiked 2.01 percent, Keppel Ltd eased 0.15 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.43 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 0.77 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.20 percent, Seatrium Limited lost 0.62 percent, SingTel fell 0.65 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.98 percent, Wilmar International rallied 1.61 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding stumbled 1.14 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Comfort DelGro, SATS, SembCorp Industries, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Yangzijiang Financial and Frasers Centrepoint Trust all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly faded and finally finished mixed.
The Dow jumped 203.40 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 40,743.33, while the NASDAQ plummeted 222.79 points or 1.28 percent to close at 17,147.42 and the S&P 500 sank 27.10 points or 0.50 percent to end at 5,436.44.
The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for the central bank's next decision in September.
The steep drop by the NASDAQ came as tech stocks came under pressure as the day progressed, weighed by the likes of Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Among tech stocks, semiconductor stocks saw some of the worst performances, resulting in a 3.9 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index slumped to its lowest closing level in well over two months.
Oil prices fell Tuesday amid continued concerns about the outlook for demand, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement and weekly inventory data later today. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended down $1.08 or 1.42 percent at $74.73 a barrel. – RTT News