The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 30 points or 0.8% along the way. The Straits Times Index (STI) now sits just beneath the 3,745-point plateau, although it may run out of steam on Monday.
The global forecast for Asian markets is soft due to concerns over the outlook for interest rates. European and US markets were down, and Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances in the property and industrial sectors, while financials were soft.For the day, the index rose 6.54 points or 0.17% to finish at 3,744.70 after trading between 3,722.24 and 3,748.72.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.51%, while CapitaLand Investment slid 0.36%, City Developments lost 0.59%, ComfortDelGro tumbled 1.34%, DBS Group was down 0.19%, DFI Retail plunged 1.68%, Genting Singapore strengthened 1.31%, Hongkong Land rallied 2.41%, Keppel DC REIT plummeted 3.08%, Keppel Ltd soared 2.82%, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust dropped 0.81%, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.87%, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.78%, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.18%, SATS spiked 2.67%, Seatrium Limited tanked 1.59%, SembCorp Industries jumped 1.99%, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.21%, SingTel shed 0.63%, Thai Beverage skidded 0.96%, Venture Corporation surged 3.06%, Wilmar International dipped 0.33%, Yangzijiang Financial stumbled 1.23%, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding fell 0.39%, and Emperador was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative, as the major averages opened lower on Friday and only weakened further as the day progressed.The Dow plunged 305.87 points or 0.70% to finish at 43,444.99, while the NASDAQ plummeted 427.53 points or 2.24% to close at 18,680.12, and the S&P 500 dropped 78.55 points or 1.32% to end at 5,870.62. For the week, the NASDAQ shed 3.2%, the S&P sank 2.1%, and the Dow fell 1.2%.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Federal Reserve Chair Powell's recent remarks suggesting the central bank doesn't need to hurry to lower rates. Citing the strength of the US economy, Powell said the Fed can take a careful approach to future monetary policy decisions.
Potentially adding to concerns that economic strength will lead the Fed to hold off on future rate cuts, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales increased slightly more than expected in October.
Oil futures plummeted Friday on concerns about demand, recent data showing an increase in US crude inventories, and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.68 or 2.45% to $67.02 a barrel, shedding 5% for the week.
Closer to home, Singapore will see October numbers for non-oil domestic exports (NODX) later this morning. In September, NODX was up 1.1% on-month and 2.7% on-year for a trade surplus of S$5.25 billion.
RTTNews
