The Singapore stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after ending the five-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 165 points or 5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,240-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for continued volatility as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. The European markets finished lower and the U.S. bourses ended mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference after a wild ride.
The STI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrials.
For the day, the index tumbled 52.23 points or 1.59 percent to finish at 3,242.24 after trading between 3,214.93 and 3,301.08. Volume was 1.72 billion shares worth 3.01 billion Singapore dollars. There were 277 decliners and 224 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT sank 1.07 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.47 percent, City Developments dipped 0.28 percent, Comfort DelGro shed 0.70 percent, Dairy Farm International was down 0.38 percent, DBS Group plummeted 3.23 percent, Hongkong Land tanked 2.88 percent, Keppel Corp advanced 0.50 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.57 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation weakened 1.52 percent, SATS declined 1.98 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 1.95 percent, Singapore Airlines gained 0.39 percent, Singapore Exchange dropped 0.95 percent, Singapore Press Holdings added 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.33 percent, SingTel plunged 3.08 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 2.21 percent, United Overseas Bank surrendered 2.16 percent, Wilmar International slumped 1.35 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding stumbled 1.43 percent and Mapletree Commercial Trust and Genting Singapore were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up mixed as the major averages opened lower on Monday. Amidst wild swings, the Dow and the S&P 500 remained in the red throughout, although a late surge from the NASDAQ pushed it into positive territory.
The Dow dropped 166.15 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 33,892.60, while the NASDAQ added 56.78 points or 0.41 percent to close at 13,751.40 and the S&P lost 10.71 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,373.94.
Geopolitical concerns have contributed to the pullback on Wall Street amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. News that Russian President Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear forces on high alert has led to worries about an escalation.
Russian and Ukrainian officials are meeting on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border to discuss a possible ceasefire, although optimism the talks will lead to peace is low. The West continues to ramp up sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion, leading to worries about the impact on the global economy.
On the U.S. economic front, MNI Indicators released a report showing a significant slowdown in the pace of growth in Chicago-area businessactivity in February.
Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday amid rising concerns about supply disruptions in Russia. As Russia accounts for about 10 percent of the global oil supply, the sanctions by the West are likely to significantly hurt supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by 4.13 or 4.5 percent at $95.72 a barrel.