(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Tuesday halted the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 100 points or 2 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,020-point plateau although it may reverse those losses on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with technology shares likely to lead the markets higher. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financial shares were offset by support from the industrials and properties.
For the day, the index shed 20.54 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 5,020.79 after trading between 4,981.37 and 5,022.99.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT rose 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust soared 2.44 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 0.32 percent, City Developments strengthened 1.63 percent, DBS Group sank 0.50 percent, DFI Retail Group dropped 0.72 percent, Hongkong Land perked 0.11 percent, Keppel DC REIT and Frasers Centrepoint Trust both gained 0.44 percent, Keppel Ltd climbed 1.07 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.49 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation tumbled 1.20 percent, SATS vaulted 1.28 percent, Seatrium Limited jumped 1.81 percent, SembCorp Industries slumped 0.79 percent, Singapore Airlines advanced 1.01 percent, Singapore Exchange fell 0.17 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering stumbled 1.92 percent, SingTel spiked 1.99 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 1.05 percent, United Overseas Bank plummeted 4.12 percent, UOL Group rallied 1.79 percent, Wilmar International accelerated 1.98 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.59 percent and Genting Singapore, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the markets opened flat on Tuesday but quickly trended upward and spent the balance of the day in positive territory, ending near session highs.
The Dow soared 370.44 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 49,174.50, while the NASDAQ rallied 236.41 points or 1.04 percent to end at 22,863.68 and the S&P 500 gained 52.32 points or 0.77 percent to close at 6,890.07.
The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting, as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the steep drop on Monday when the Dow fell to a one-month low.
Semiconductor stocks lead the move back to the upside, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 1.5 percent to a new record closing high. Significant strength was also visible among networking, gold, airline and software stocks.
In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board showed an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in February as its consumer confidence index rose to 91.2 from an upwardly revised 89.0 in January.
Crude oil prices fell slumped Tuesday as traders continue to evaluate the potential turbulence in the trade tariff environment following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on reciprocal tariffs. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery sank $0.71 or 1.1 percent to $66.31 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will provide Q4 data for gross domestic product later this morning, with forecast suggesting an increase of 1.9 percent on quarter following a 2.4 percent gain in the three months prior.
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