Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 40 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 4,525-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected after recent strength. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index perked 2.26 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 4,526.22 after trading between 4,524.47 and 4,544.57.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT slumped 1.07 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 0.85 percent, CapitaLand Investment gained 0.38 percent, City Developments fell 0.41 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.30 percent, DFI Retail Group soared 2.03 percent, Genting Singapore contracted 1.32 percent, Hongkong Land surged 3.46 percent, Keppel DC REIT tumbled 1.73 percent, Keppel Ltd perked 0.10 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined 1.37 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust retreated 1.46 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation jumped 1.08 percent, SATS lost 0.59 percent, Seatrium Limited added 0.47 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.82 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 0.72 percent, SingTel shed 0.63 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.53 percent, UOL Group eased 0.12 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.31 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding stumbled 2.09 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Comfort DelGro, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 427.09 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 47,289.33, while the NASDAQ sank 89.76 points or 0.38 percent to close at 23,275.92 and the S&P 500 lost 36.46 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,812.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which saw the major averages stage a significant recovery from the sharp pullback seen in November.

The major averages had closed higher for five consecutive sessions last week, clawing their way back toward record highs.

Stocks had recently benefited from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. However, the release of key U.S. economic data in the coming days could impact Fed officials' thinking.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. dollar came under pressure amid rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.75 or 1.28 percent at $59.30 per barrel.