To The Moon

The Singapore stock market on Tuesday ended the eight-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 125 points or 4 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,280-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising coronavirus cases and concern over the outlook for interest rates, although support from crude oil may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index slipped 7.91 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 3,280.04 after trading between 3,273.46 and 3,299.64. Volume was 1.12 billion shares worth 993.99 million Singapore dollars. There were 253 decliners and 185 gainers.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.50 percent, while City Developments gained 0.42 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.44 percent, Dairy Farm International jumped 1.06 percent, DBS Group fell 0.22 percent, Keppel Corp climbed 0.57 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust advanced 0.55 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.41 percent, SATS plunged 1.73 percent, SembCorp Industries and Singapore Exchange both sank 0.93 percent, Singapore Airlines declined 1.17 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.27 percent, SingTel retreated 0.80 percent, United Overseas Bank skidded 0.66 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.24 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 2.24 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Genting Singapore, Ascendas REIT, Thai Beverage and Singapore Press Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 543.34 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 35,368.34, while the NASDAQ tumbled 268.15 points or 1.56 percent to close at 14,506.90 and the S&P 500 sank 85.74 points or 1.84 percent to end at 4,577.11.

The weakness on Wall Street followed a surge in Treasury yields due to concerns about imminent interest rate hikes, spooking investors and encouraging them to cash in.

Lingering worries about the surge in cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in several countries contribute as well to the bearish mood in the market.

In economic news, the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index for January came in well shy of expectations, as did the NAHB Housing Market index.

Crude oil prices spiked on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude for February delivery climbed $1.39 or 1.63 percent to close at $86.82 per barrel.