The Singapore stock market has moved lower in back-to-back trading days, slipping almost 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,100-point plateau although it's expected to find traction on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asianmarketsis positive, with oversold markets likely to rebound on possible easing inflation concerns. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The STI finished barely lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials were mixed.
For the day, the index eased 0.45 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,103.66 after trading between 3,096.38 and 3,124.57. Volume was 1.3 billion shares worth 1.1 billion Singapore dollars. There were 268 decliners and 222 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT advanced 0.70 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 0.97 percent, CapitaLand Investment collected 0.53 percent, City Developments plunged 1.89 percent, DBS Group fell 0.23 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 2.17 percent, Keppel Corp tumbled 1.23 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust gained 0.56 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust spiked 1.93 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust surged 3.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.18 percent, SATS dropped 0.77 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 1.05 percent, Singapore Exchange perked 0.42 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering shed 0.50 percent, SingTel jumped 1.56 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank slumped 0.83 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial soared 2.50 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 0.54 percent and Comfort DelGro, Genting Singapore and UOL Group were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages hugged the unchanged line for most of Wednesday's trade before a late rally pushed them into the green.
The Dow climbed 69.86 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 31,037.68, while the NASDAQ added 39.61 points or 0.35 percent to close at 11,361.85 and the S&P 500 rose 13.69 points or 0.36 percent to end at 3,845.08.
The late rally on Wall Street followed the release of the latest batch of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which showed the central bank remains committed to bringing down inflation.
The minutes also said participants continued to anticipate that ongoing increases in the target range for the federal funds would be appropriate to achieve the monetary policy committee's objectives; another 50 or 75-basis point move is expected in the July meeting.
Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in China and fears over a possible recession, while a strong greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.97 or 1 percent at $98.53 a barrel.
