(RTTNews) - Ahead of Thursday's Deepavali holiday, the Singapore stock market turned lower again, one day after snapping the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,560-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative, with pressure likely among technology stocks amid waning optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished firmly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial shares and industrials were tempered by support from the property sector.
For the day, the index dropped 31.48 point or 0.88 percent to finish at 3,558.88 after trading between 3,553.85 and 3,592.98. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust skidded 0.98 percent, while CapitaLand Investment slumped 1.06 percent, City Developments and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding both advanced 0.78 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.68 percent, DBS Group surrendered 1.60 percent, Genting Singapore lost 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land skyrocketed 10.80 percent, Keppel DC REIT plunged 2.14 percent, Keppel Ltd stumbled 1.54 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust dropped 0.76 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust gained 0.42 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.75 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation retreated 1.56 percent, SATS rose 0.25 percent, SembCorp Industries tanked 1.95 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering plummeted 2.16 percent, SingTel tumbled 1.57 percent, Thai Beverage rallied 0.95 percent, Wilmar International shed 0.62 percent, Yangzijiang Financial declined 1.23 percent and Emperador, Seatrium Limited and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened solidly under water and stayed that way throughout the trading day.
The Dow tumbled 378.08 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 41,763.46, while the NASDAQ plummeted 512.78 points or 2.76 percent to close at 18,095.15 and the S&P 500 slumped 108.22 points or 1.86 percent to end at 5,705.45.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid a negative reaction to earnings news from tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META).
Traders were also reacting to closely watched consumer price inflation data that largely came in line with economist estimates, although core CPI resisted lower forecasts to remain unchanged. That added to recent concerns the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates more slowly than hoped.
Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday amid expectations of increased demand from the U.S. and a likely delay in OPEC's planned output increase from December. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.65 or 0.95 percent at $69.26 a barrel.
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