Steady Start Seen For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after ending the three-day slide in which it had slumped almost 80 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,890-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with geopolitical concerns expected to war with bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply lower on Monday with losses across the board, especially among the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index cratered 104.21 points or 2.09 percent to finish at 4,890.86 after trading between 4,875.59 and 4,920.20.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT eased 0.37 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gained 0.41 percent, CapitaLand Investment shed 1.63 percent, City Developments stumbled 3.46 percent, DBS Group contracted 2.61 percent, DFI Retail Group tanked 3.10 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 2.10 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 3.92 percent, Keppel DC REIT lost 0.87 percent, Keppel Ltd plummeted 4.66 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust dipped 0.49 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust fell 0.78 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation slumped 2.33 percent, SATS cratered 5.87 percent, Seatrium Limited retreated 2.92 percent, SembCorp Industries tumbled 3.43 percent, Singapore Airlines crashed 4.74 percent, Singapore Exchange slipped 0.77 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering surged 2.81 percent, SingTel surrendered 2.58 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 2.17 percent, United Overseas Bank sank 1.81 percent, UOL Group declined 2.84 percent, Wilmar International added 0.57 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rallied 2.07 percent and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Monday but gradually came back and hugged the line for the rest of the day, ending mixed.

The Dow sank 73.14 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 48,904.78. while the NASDAQ gained 80.65 points or 0.36 percent to close at 22,748.86 and the S&P 500 rose 2.74 points or 0.04 percent to end at 6,881.62.

Early selling pressure was generated in reaction to the news that the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran over the weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The subsequent turnaround came as traders used the initial sell-off as an opportunity to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in two months.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of February.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $4.08 or 6.1 percent to $71.10 a barrel.