To The Moon

The Singapore stock market rebounded on Friday, one day after ending the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 170 points or 5.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,130-point plateau and it's likely to open higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following stronger than expected employment data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, properties and industrials.

For the day, the index advanced 27.60 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 3,130.11 after trading between 3,098.72 and 3,134.30. Volume was 1.65 billion shares worth 1.26 billion Singapore dollars. There were 347 gainers and 218 decliners.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.54 percent, while CapitaLand Investment skyrocketed 5.59 percent, City Developments rallied 1.43 percent, DBS Group and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both increased 0.79 percent, Emperador climbed 1.05 percent, Genting Singapore added 0.62 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 2.21 percent, Keppel Corp strengthened 1.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust lost 0.64 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust improved 0.93 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.75 percent, SATS sank 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 3.70 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 0.30 percent, SingTel rose 0.40 percent, Thai Beverage accelerated 1.75 percent, United Overseas Bank jumped 1.36 percent, Wilmar International advanced 1.02 percent, Yangzijiang Financial and DFI Retail both soared 3.08 percent and Ascendas REIT, Comfort DelGro and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday, faded midday but bounced higher again late in the session.

The Dow surged 402.02 points or 1.26 percent to finish at 32,403.22, while the NASDAQ jumped 132.35 points or 1.28 percent to close at 10,475.25 and the S&P 500 climbed 50.66 points or 1.36 percent to end at 3,770.55.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.7 percent, the S&P tumbled 3.4 percent and the Dow dropped 1.4 percent.

The volatility followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report for October.

The report showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 261,000 jobs in October after surging by an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in September.

The report generated a mixed reaction among traders, creating uncertainty about the outlook for future interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday amid easing concerns about the outlook for energy demand. A weak dollar and fears of a ban by the European Union on Russian oil also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $4.44 or 5 percent at $92.61 a barrel.