The Singapore stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 65 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,415-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is lackluster, rising residual momentum and surging crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the properties and industrials, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index added 13.99 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,413.69 after trading between 3,396.77 and 3,421.97. Volume was 1.61 billion shares worth 1.38 billion Singapore dollars. There were 260 gainers and 249 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rose 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust jumped 1.36 percent, City Developments soared 1.70 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 0.68 percent, Dairy Farm International tumbled 1.13 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.11 percent, Genting Singapore shed 0.61 percent, Hongkong Land surged 2.83 percent, Keppel Corp perked 0.15 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.54 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gained 0.41 percent, SATS spiked 1.68 percent, SembCorp Industries accelerated 1.52 percent, Singapore Airlines climbed 1.11 percent, Singapore Exchange was up 0.20 percent, Singapore Press Holdings added 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering advanced 0.73 percent, SingTel rallied 1.15 percent, Thai Beverage improved 0.71 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.37 percent, Wilmar International skidded 1.03 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding increased 0.69 percent and Mapletree Commercial Trust was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and wound up in similar fashion and little changed at the session's end.
The Dow climbed 153.34 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 34,861,24, while the NASDAQ shed 22.50 points or 0.16 percent to end at 14,169.30 and the S&P 500 rose 22.90 points or 0.51 percent to close at 4,543.06. For the week, the Dow rose 0.3 percent, the S&P jumped 1.8 percent and the NASDAQ spiked 2.0 percent.
The choppy trade came after the U.S. and the European Union signed an agreement for the supply of liquefied natural gas to reduce reliance on Russian supply.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales unexpectedly saw further downside in February. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell more than expected in March.
Crude oil prices rallied Friday afternoon, lifted by news about a missile strike at an oil storage depot in Saudi Arabian city Jeddah. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.56 or 1.4 percent at $113.90 a barrel; they gained nearly 12 percent in the week.