Singapore Stock Market May Extend Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 30 points or 0.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,800-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued solid momentum ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and properties, while the industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index collected 25.36 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 3,806.57 after trading between 3,790.69 and 3,814.86.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment fell 0.41 percent, while Comfort DelGro gained 0.72 percent, DBS Group rallied 1.13 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.20 percent, Keppel DC REIT rose 0.45 percent, Keppel Ltd shed 0.45 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust added 0.85 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.79 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.35 percent, Seatrium Limited tumbled 1.33 percent, SembCorp Industries eased 0.18 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering soared 1.28 percent, SingTel climbed 0.97 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.93 percent, Wilmar International gathered 0.33 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 3.49 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Emperador, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Industrial Trust, SATS and City Developments were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but climbed steadily as the day progressed, so they were all in the green by the session's end.

The Dow surged 408.34 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 44,565.07, while the NASDAQ added 44.34 points or 0.22 percent to close at 20,053.68 and the S&P 500 gained 32.34 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,118.71.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has help stocks largely offset the sell-off seen earlier this month.

Biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside as the day progressed, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.8 percent to its best closing level in almost four years.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims saw further upside last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell less than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March closed down $0.82 or about 1.1 percent at $74.62 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release December numbers for industrial production later today; in November, production was down 0.4 percent on month and up 8.5 percent on year.