Singapore Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, rising almost 15 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 5,015-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains grim thanks to ongoing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index rose 10.89 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 5,014.96 after trading between 4,995.97 and 5,021.07.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT shed 0.39 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust surged 3.35 percent, CapitaLand Investment gathered 0.35 percent, City Developments jumped 1.03 percent, DBS Group and Keppel DC REIT both rose 0.42 percent, DFI Retail Group accelerated 1.46 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.71 percent, Hongkong Land tumbled 1.38 percent, Keppel Ltd rallied 1.10 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.49 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust spiked 1.60 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slipped 0.26 percent, SATS slumped 0.85 percent, Seatrium Limited sank 0.43 percent, SembCorp Industries was up 0.29 percent, Singapore Airlines eased 0.15 percent, Singapore Exchange was down 0.18 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering perked 0.18 percent, SingTel collected 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage plunged 2.38 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.35 percent, UOL Group expanded 0.75 percent, Wilmar International and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust both added 0.51 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 2.96 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday but quickly turned lower and remained in the red for the remainder of the day, ending at session lows.

The Dow dropped 293.18 points of 0.59 percent to finish at 49,149.38, while the NASDAQ sank 144.43 points or 0.59 percent to end at 24,259.96 and the S&P 500 lost 45.13 points or 0.63 percent to close at 7,064.01.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as the price of crude oil has moved sharply higher over the course of the day.

Crude oil prices continued to surge on Tuesday as the ongoing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz kept supply disruption concerns alive. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.99 or 4.45 percent at $93.60 per barrel.

Earlier in the session, the markets benefitted from positive corporate earnings news from the likes of UnitedHealth (UNH) and homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI), both of which handily beat expectations.

Early buying interest was also generated in reaction to a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. surged by more than expected in the month of March.