(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had slumped almost 80 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 5,000-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative following the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Israel against Iran. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues were capped by weakness from the trusts.
For the day, the index added 30.69 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 4,995.07 after trading between 4,943.14 and 4,996.41.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT lost 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust tanked 2.00 percent, City Developments spiked 4.91 percent, DBS Group eased 0.07 percent, DFI Retail Group stumbled 2.10 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.69 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.52 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.54 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust retreated 1.39 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust shed 0.49 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust slumped 0.77 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.42 percent, SATS vaulted 1.29 percent, Seatrium Limited soared 5.26 percent, SembCorp Industries climbed 0.82 percent, Singapore Airlines improved 0.70 percent, Singapore Exchange rallied 2.02 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.50 percent, SingTel advanced 0.80 percent, Thai Beverage expanded 1.10 percent, United Overseas Bank and Wilmar International both increased 0.57 percent, UOL Group surged 5.62 percent, Venture Corporation plummeted 7.51 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding skyrocketed 10.71 percent and Keppel DC REIT and CapitaLand Investment were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.
The Dow tumbled 521.28 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 48,977.92, while the NASDAQ sank 210.17 points or 0.92 percent to end at 22,668.21 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,878.88.
For the week, the Dow tumbled 1.3 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent.
The continued weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased 0.5 percent in January, more than the expected 0.3 percent.
The jump in producer prices along with concerns about AI-related layoffs led to worries about a period of stagflation. Adding to recent concerns about potential AI disruptions, Block (XYZ) said it is cutting its workforce by nearly half.
Crude oil prices spiked on Friday amid growing concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April surged $1.71 or 2.6 percent to $66.92 barrel - although it's expected to jump sharply again now that hostilities have broken out.
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