The Singapore stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index sits just beneath the 3,440-point plateau and it figures to see little movement on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat amid rising oil prices, geopolitical uncertainty and solid economic data. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and industrial stocks.
For the day, the index gained 17.92 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 3,439.30 after trading between 3,407.44 and 3,442.61. Volume was 1.1 billion shares worth 1.3 billion Singapore dollars. There were 272 gainers and 164 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT jumped 1.43 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.96 percent, City Developments rallied 1.38 percent, Comfort DelGro soared 2.08 percent, Dairy Farm International lost 0.34 percent, DBS Group increased 0.74 percent, Genting Singapore climbed 1.29 percent, Hongkong Land eased 0.18 percent, Keppel Corp was up 0.50 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust tumbled 1.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation added 1.06 percent, SATS accelerated 1.47 percent, SembCorp Industries spiked 1.63 percent, Singapore Airlines advanced 1.14 percent, Singapore Exchange dipped 0.31 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.78 percent, SingTel slumped 0.78 percent, Thai Beverage surged 2.21 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.21 percent, Wilmar International skidded 0.84 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 0.72 percent and Singapore Press Holdings and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests little movement as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday before a late rally put them largely unchanged on opposite side of the line.
The Dow shed 54.57 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 34,934.27, while the NASDAQ dipped 15.66 points or 0.11 percent to close at 14,124.09 and the S&P 500 rose 3.94 points or 0.09 percent to end at 4,475.01.
The rebound in afternoon trading came as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's January monetary policy meeting reiterated that it would "soon be appropriate" to begin raising interest rate but were not as hawkish as some had feared.
Traders also weighed lingering concerns about ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Russian claims to be pulling troops back from the Ukrainian border, but Western leaders have not verified the moves.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a substantial rebound in U.S. retail sales in January. Also, The Labor said U.S. import prices increased more than expected last month. And the Federal Reserve said production rebounded more than anticipated in January.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, rebounding from a sharp setback in the previous session as traders reacted to conflicting statements on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian border. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.59 or 1.7 percent at $93.66 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will see January numbers for non-oil domestic exports later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.3 percent on month and 12.4 percent on year. That follows the 3.7 percent monthly increase and the 18.4 percent annual spike in December.