Rebound Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 80 points or 1.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,930-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting among the technology companies likely to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following profit taking among the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index sank 41.46 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 4,934.41 after trading between 4,926.80 and 4,953.00.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT tanked 2.10 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rallied 2.94 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.30 percent, City Developments shed 0.62 percent, DBS Group lost 0.60 percent, DFI Retail Group skidded 1.18 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 4.22 percent, Keppel DC REIT retreated 1.76 percent, Keppel Ltd gained 0.17 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 1.37 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust fell 0.49 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation contracted 1.03 percent, SATS tumbled 1.81 percent, Seatrium Limited dropped 0.96 percent, SembCorp Industries dipped 0.33 percent, Singapore Airlines eased 0.15 percent, Singapore Exchange slipped 0.40 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 1.92 percent, SingTel slumped 1.26 percent, United Overseas Bank slid 0.39 percent, UOL Group added 0.18 percent, Wilmar International sank 0.86 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 6.23 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Genting Singapore and Thai Beverage were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,206.97 points or 2.47 percent to finish at a record 50,115.67, while the NASDAQ soared 490.61 points or 2.18 percent to close at 23,031.21 and the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points or 1.97 percent to end at 6,932.30.

For the week, the Dow rallied 2.5 percent, while the S&P dipped 0.1 percent and the NASDAQ fell 1.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness, especially among the technology shares that had dragged the NASDAQ to its lowest close in two months.

Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, as did computer hardware and semiconductor stocks. A sharp increase by the price of gold also provided significant strength to the markets.

Crude oil moved higher on Friday after the U.S. issued an advisory telling its citizens to depart from Iran, further stoking concerns of war. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.20 or 0.32 percent at $63.49 per barrel.