Singapore Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Thursday

The Singapore stock market has finished higher in consecutive trading days, improving more than 70 points or 1.4 percent in that span. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Straits Times Index sits just above the 4,965-point plateau although the rally may stall on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is unclear, with technology stocks likely under pressure while oil, pharmaceutical and housing stocks offering support. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, while the property stocks and industrial issues were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 21.41 points or 0.43 percent to finish at the daily high of 4,965.50 after trading as low as 4,939.91.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust advanced 0.84 percent, while City Developments fell 0.21 percent, DBS Group gained 0.47 percent, DFI Retail Group sank 0.71 percent, Hongkong Land shed 0.58 percent, Keppel DC REIT dropped 0.87 percent, Keppel Ltd and Venture Corporation both added 0.55 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust stumbled 2.39 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.75 percent, SATS lost 0.52 percent, Seatrium Limited skidded 0.95 percent, SembCorp Industries eased 0.17 percent, Singapore Airlines soared 1.85 percent, Singapore Exchange slumped 1.39 percent, SingTel rallied 1.03 percent, Thai Beverage spiked 1.05 percent, United Overseas Bank rose 0.42 percent, UOL Group jumped 1.01 percent, Wilmar International surged 2.67 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, Mapletree Logistics Trust, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed but quickly diverged, finally finishing the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

The Dow rallied 260.31 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 49,501, while the NASDAQ tumbled 350.61 points or 1.51 percent to end at 22,904.58 and the S&P 500 sank 35.09 points or 0.51 percent to close at 6,882.72.

The advance by the Dow was fueled by stocks like Amgen (AMGN), 3M (MMM) and Nike (NKE), which saw better than expected quarterly results.

Meanwhile, traders continued to rotate out of the tech sector, dragging the NASDAQ lower as semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside.

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in January. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said its reading on U.S. service sector activity came in unchanged last month.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said inventories in the U.S. fell far more than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $1.97 or 3.12 percent at $65.18 per barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release December data for retail sales later today; in November, sales were flat on month and up 6.3 percent on year.