The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions, improving almost 50 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,400-point plateau and it's tipped to see additional support on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asianmarketsis mixed to higher on continued upward momentum following heavy selling earlier this month. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and industrials, while the properties were mixed.
For the day, the index advanced 35.44 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 3,399.70 after trading between 3,351.52 and 3,402.14. Volume was 1.86 billion shares worth 1.65 billion Singapore dollars. There were 297 gainers and 165 decliners.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust increased 0.92 percent, while City Developments rallied 2.42 percent, Comfort DelGro surged 4.23 percent, Dairy Farm International accelerated 2.70 percent, DBS Group added 1.31 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 3.77 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.20 percent, Keppel Corp improved 1.25 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust gathered 1.60 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 1,65 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation perked 0.82 percent, SATS skyrocketed 5.04 percent, SembCorp Industries gained 0.76 percent, Singapore Airlines soared 4.25 percent, Singapore Exchange was up 0.10 percent, Singapore Press Holdings lost 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering picked up 0.24 percent, SingTel climbed 1.95 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 2.19 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.41 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.62 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding strengthened 2.11 percent and Ascendas REIT was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher and picked up steam as the day progressed, erasing losses from the previous session.
The Dow spiked 349.44 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 34,707.94, while the NASDAQ jumped 269.23 points or 1.93 percent to end at 14,191.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 63.92 points or 1.43 percent to close at 4,520.16.
The support om Wall Street came as express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
Traders also kept an eye on developments out of Europe, where President Joe Biden is meeting with U.S. allies in Brussels. The Biden administration has imposed additional sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, targeting dozens of Russian defense companies, 328 members of the Russian State Duma, and the head of Russia's largest financial institution.
In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in over 50 years in the week ended March 19. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled more than expected in February
Crude oil prices showed a notable move to the downside on Thursday after Iran hinted it may be close to getting a new nuclear deal with the U.S. via negotiations in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude for May delivery tumbled $2.59 or 2.3 percent to $112.34 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will release February numbers for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.9 percent on month and an increase of 6.3 percent on year. That follows the 10.7 percent monthly drop and the 2.0 percent yearly gain in January.
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