In three straight sessions, the Singapore stock market has closed lower, giving away 1.2 percent or more than 35 points along the way. The Straits Times Index rests just above the 2,720-point plateau, but now investors are eyeing for a solid rebound when the market trades today.
The global prediction for the Asian bourses continues to show support, attributed primarily on stronger commodity markets. Property stocks are also expected to rise, as well as the airline and technology sectors. The US and European markets ended firmly with positive results, and the Asian markets are expected to open in a similar direction.
The STI ended modestly lower on Tuesday, due to selling activity among the telecoms, airlines and financial stocks.
For the day, the index incurred a 0.56 percent or 15.30 points loss to finish at the daily low of 2,720.87 after peaking at 2,767.43. There were 172 gainers and 289 decliners.
Among the decliners, Singapore Airlines lost 1.44 percent, while Singapore Telecommunications shed 1.3 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was down 0.8 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.8 percent and DBS Group eased 0.6 percent.
As stocks saw remarkable gains on Tuesday, with buying interest in the markets coming amid a modest recovery in pending home sales data, Wall Street remains upbeat.
The upside came after the National Association of Realtors announced that the leading indicator of activity in the housing sector – pending home sales – increased by 1.0 percent in December following a revised 16.4 percent drop in November. Economists had been expecting that there will be around 1.1 percent increase in pending home sales.
Meanwhile, on the earnings front, United Parcel Service (UPS) and Hershey (HSY) reported mixed quarterly revenues and earnings.
In the late-session dealing, all major averages saw choppy movement, closing just off of their highs for the session. The Dow advanced 1.1 percent or 111.32 points to close at 10,296.85; the NASDAQ gained 0.9 percent or 18.86 points to 2,190.06; and the S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent or 14.13 points to 1,103.32.