Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has ticked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 75 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,490-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on continuing concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourse were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and telecoms.

For the day, the index rose 7.25 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 4,492.24 after trading between 4,473.62 and 4,520.49.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT collected 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.43 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.13 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.69 percent, DBS Group slumped 1.01 percent, DFI Retail Group plummeted 3.19 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 2.05 percent, Hongkong Land skidded 0.98 percent, Keppel DC REIT rallied 0.84 percent, Keppel Ltd stumbled 1.74 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust dropped 0.68 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust sank 0.49 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation surged 3.43 percent, SATS added 0.58 percent, Seatrium Limited retreated 1.38 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.31 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering declined 1.07 percent, SingTel soared 2.89 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.12 percent, UOL Group rose 0.37 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 2.60 percent and Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Logistics Trust and City Developments were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cloudy as the major averages spent most of Friday under water before a late push salvaged a mixed close.

The Dow added 74.80 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 46,987.10, while the NASDAQ sank 49.46 points or 0.21 percent to close at 23,004.54 and the S&P 500 rose 8.48 points or 0.13 percent to end at 6,728.80.

For the week, the tech-heavy NASDAQ plunged 3.0 percent, while the S&P 500 tumbled 1.7 percent and the Dow slumped 1.2 percent.

The recovery in afternoon trading reflected optimism about an end to the prolonged government shutdown following an offer from top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer - although Republicans turned the offer down later in the day.

Negative sentiment was also generated by a report from the University of Michigan showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has deteriorated much more than anticipated in November; consumers are now expressing worries about potential negative economic consequences of the shutdown as the stalemate exceeds one month.

Crude oil prices saw modest gains on Friday as a weakening dollar was offset by reports of oversupply and low demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.38 or 0.64 percent at $59.81 per barrel.