To The Moon

The Singapore stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 60 points or 1.9 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,260-point plateau although hit figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asianmarketsis positive, mostly on bargain hunting following heavy selling last week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the properties and industrials, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 19.06 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 3,263.24 after trading between 3,261.95 and 3,285.79.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT weakened 1.07 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 1.03 percent, CapitaLand Investment plummeted 4.64 percent, City Developments declined 1.40 percent, Comfort DelGro jumped 1.67 percent, DBS Group eased 0.17 percent, Emperador climbed 1.01 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.98 percent, Hongkong Land shed 0.66 percent, Keppel Corp surrendered 1.45 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust slumped 1.16 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 0.42 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tanked 1.76 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.24 percent, SATS added 0.35 percent, SembCorp Industries slid 0.27 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.56 percent, SingTel retreated 1.24 percent, Thai Beverage sank 0.76 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.30 percent, Wilmar International tumbled 1.53 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dove 0.76 percent and Yangzijiang Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened sharply higher on Monday, faded as the day progressed but still finished with modest gains.

The Dow added 72.17 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 32,889.09, while the NASDAQ advanced 72.04 points or 0.63 percent to close at 11,466.98 and the S&P 500 rose 12.20 points or 0.31 percent to end at 3,982.24.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as some traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the steep drop last week.

However, buying interest waned over the course of the session as traders expressed concerns about the outlook for interest rates as recent economic data has led to worries the Federal Reserve will raise rates more than anticipated.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a sharp pullback in new orders for durable goods in January. Also, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales in the U.S. spiked by more than expected in January.

Crude oil prices pulled back Monday, handing back recent gains on concerns that higher interest rates will tip the globaleconomyinto a recession. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery slid $0.64 or 0.8 percent to $75.68 a barrel.