The Singapore stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 180 points or 5.5 percent. The Straits Times Index sits just above the 3,420-point plateau and it the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, although crude oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financials.
For the day, the index dipped 7.75 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 3,421.20 after trading between 3,403.41 and 3,434.51. Volume was 1.62 billion shares worth 1.5 billion Singapore dollars. There were 318 decliners and 167 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tumbled 1.39 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both tanked 1.44 percent, City Developments surrendered 1.38 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 2.05 percent, Dairy Farm International rallied 1.76 percent, DBS Group fell 0.13 percent, Genting Singapore declined 1.28 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.78 percent, Keppel Corp dropped 0.33 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust skidded 1.09 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust retreated 1.14 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up 0.08 percent, SATS slumped 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries weakened 0.82 percent, Singapore Airlines plunged 1.88 percent, Singapore Exchange eased 0.10 percent, Singapore Press Holdings sank 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 1.04 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.31 percent, Wilmar International spiked 2.02 percent and SingTel and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Monday and spent most of the day in the red before ending modestly lower.
The Dow tumbled 171.89 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 34,566.17, while the NASDAQ eased 0.24 points or 0.00 percent to close at 13,790.92 and the S&P 500 fell 16.97 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,401.67.
The continued weakness on Wall Street came as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the tensions between Ukraine and Russia. President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend but there was little progress in defusing the situation.
Traders also remained wary about the outlook for monetary policy following mixed remarks by Federal Reserve officials, with interest rates expected to rise as soon as next month.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday on rising concerns that Russia could attack Ukraine in the near future. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.5 percent at $95.46 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2014.
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