To The Moon

The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in six straight sessions, soaring more than 180 points or 5.5 percent along the way. Now at a fresh 30-month closing high, the Straits Times Index sits just beneath the 3,430-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourse were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the properties, weakness from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index rose 7.96 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 3,428.00 after trading between 3,403.95 and 3,435.68. Volume was 1.4 billion shares worth 1.6 billion Singapore dollars. There were 279 gainers and 182 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rose 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust accelerated 0.97 percent, Comfort DelGro climbed 0.69 percent, Dairy Farm International fell 0.34 percent, DBS Group lost 0.35 percent, Genting Singapore strengthened 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land surged 2.88 percent, Keppel Corp slid 0.17 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust added 0.55 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust soared 1.71 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.15 percent, SATS gained 0.50 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.41 percent, Singapore Airlines advanced 0.56 percent, Singapore Exchange was up 0.10 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering spiked 1.05 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 0.76 percent, United Overseas Bank sank 0.79 percent, Wilmar International jumped 0.91 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, City Developments, Singapore Press Holdings and SingTel were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and the losses accelerated as the session progressed.

The Dow plummeted 526.47 points or 1.47 percent to finish at 35,241.59, while the NASDAQ tumbled 304.73 points or 2.10 percent to close at 14,185.64 and the S&P 500 sank 83.10 points or 1.81 percent to end at 4,504.08.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said the annual rate of growth in consumer prices accelerated more than expected in January. The data raised concerns that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates more aggressively to fight elevated inflation.

Selling pressure accelerated after comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who indicated he supports raising interest rates by 50 basis points next month as part of a plan to raise rates by a full percentage point by the start of July.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday, gaining for a second straight day as falling crude inventories continued to support the commodity's prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.22 or 0.25 percent at $89.88 a barrel.