(RTTNews.com) – The Singapore stock market turned higher again on Tuesday, one session after it had ended the modest two-day winning streak in which it had gained 6 points or 0.2 percent. The Straits Times Index settled just above the 3,465-point plateau, although the market is likely to remain rangebound on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, although support may be provided by continued optimism about the outlook for interest rates following last week’s disappointing U.S. jobs report. The European markets ended higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower – so the Asian markets are looking at a mixed and flat lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the plantation stocks and mixed performances from the financials and properties.
For the day, the index gained 12.71 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 3,465.62 after trading between 3,459.94 and 3,476.20. Volume was 1.95 billion shares worth 953 million Singapore dollars.
Among the actives, Ascendas Reit jumped 2.73 percent, while Keppel Corp climbed 1.23 percent, City Developments added 0.68 percent, CapitaLand shed 0.84 percent, SIA lost 0.92 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.64 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.90 percent, Golden Agri-Resources surged 2.30 percent and Genting Singapore advanced 1.60 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is slightly soft as stocks came under pressure on Tuesday after seeing moderate strength for much of the session.
The Dow edged down only 5.43 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 17,875.42, while the NASDAQ dipped 7.08 points or 0.1 percent to 4,910.23 and the S&P 500 slipped 4.29 points or 0.2 percent to 2,076.33.
Recent economic data pointing to weakness in the first quarter has led to speculation that the Federal Reserve will delay its planned increase in rates.
However, traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of minutes later today of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting.
The minutes could shed some additional light on the outlook for interest rates, although it is worth noting that the meeting came before the weak jobs data.
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