To The Moon

The Singapore stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 40 points or 1.2 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,210-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over corporate earnings, plus support from the energy and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financials and mixed performances from the properties and industrials.

For the day, the index slipped 9.09 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 3,211.56 after trading between 3,199.96 and 3,244.29. Volume was 1.29 billion shares worth 1.35 billion Singapore dollars. There were 258 decliners and 230 gainers.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rose 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust surged 2.35 percent, City Developments slumped 0.64 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.39 percent, DBS Group declined 1.10 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.62 percent, Hongkong Land skyrocketed 6.79 percent, Keppel Corp soared 1.62 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust climbed 1,06 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and SembCorp Industries both lost 0.34 percent, SATS spiked 1.28 percent, Singapore Exchange gained 0.41 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.50 percent, SingTel fell 0.38 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank tanked 2.51 percent, Wilmar International retreated 0.74 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 3.66 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 4.62 percent and CapitaLand Investment and Mapletree Industrial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow spiked 315.53 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 32,845.13, while the NASDAQ jumped 228.09 points or 1.88 percent to end at 12,390.69 and the S&P 500 gained 57.86 points or 1.42 percent to close at 4,130.29.

For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.7 percent, the S&P climbed 4.3 percent and the Dow gained 3.0 percent. The three-day rally also capped off a strong month for stocks, with the major averages recording their best monthly gains since 2020.

The continued strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies like Amazon (AMZN) and tech giant Apple (AAPL) - although others like Intel (INTC) and Proctor & Gamble (PG) disappointed.

Crude oil prices rose sharply after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories tumbled last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $2.20 or 2.3 percent at $98.62 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 4.1 percent in the week but fell 6.8 percent in the month.