The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 55 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,165-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid earnings news and support from crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets ended sharply higher and the Asian bourses are also tipped to open in the green.
The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the properties and industrials, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index added 8.44 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 3,164.86 after trading between 3,136.04 and 3,170.52. Volume was 1.1 billion shares worth 1.1 billion Singapore dollars. There were 265 gainers and 155 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT spiked 1.00 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Mapletree Commercial Trust both perked 0.47 percent, City Developments rallied 0.54 percent, Comfort DelGro climbed 0.64 percent, DBS Group fell 0.26 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land advanced 0.41 percent, Jardine Cycle skyrocketed 7.89 percent, Keppel Corp surged 2.08 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 0.51 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gained 0.34 percent, SATS dipped 0.23 percent, SembCorp Industries soared 1.04 percent, Singapore Airlines rose 0.18 percent, Singapore Exchange sank 0.72 percent, Singapore Press Holdings gathered 0.50 percent, SingTel added 0.40 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.08 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.68 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding accelerated 0.72 percent and Dairy Farm International, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Thai Beverage, UOL Group and CapitaLand were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and stayed comfortably in the green throughout the session.
The Dow surged 534.75 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 34,912.56, while the NASDAQ spiked 251.79 points or 1.73 percent to close at 14,823.43 and the S&P 500 jumped 74.45 points or 1.71 percent to end at 4,438.26.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders reacted positively to a batch of largely upbeat earnings news from several big-name companies, including UnitedHealth (UNH), Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS).
Adding to the positive sentiment, the Labor Department said that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped below 300,000 for the first time in well over a year last week.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) lifted its global oil demand forecast. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.87 or 1.1 percent at $81.31 a barrel, the highest level since October 2014.
Market Analysis
Singapore Bourse Likely To Test Resistance At 3,200 Points
2021-10-15 00:00:14
