The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finished through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had fallen nearly 40 points or 1.1 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,545-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast is negative on renewed concerns of a trade war between the United states and China. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down, and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the plantations, gains from the properties and a mixed bag from the financial sector.
For the day, the index dipped 5.05 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 3,543.18 after trading between 3,537.03 and 3,563.14. Volume was 1.06 billion shares worth 894.9 million Singapore dollars. There were 230 decliners and 157 gainers.
Among the actives, Singapore Exchange plummeted 2.09 percent, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 1.94 percent, Golden Agri-Resources plunged 1.52 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust soared 0.96 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 0.77 percent, Ascendas REIT jumped 0.75 percent, DBS Group skidded 0.75 percent, SembCorp Industries tumbled 0.65 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.62 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.61 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust climbed 0.58 percent, CapitaLand advanced 0.56 percent, SingTel fell 0.29 percent, Keppel Corp added 0.24 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.14 percent and Hutchison Port Holdings, Comfort DelGro and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks bounced back and forth across the unchanged line on Tuesday before settling firmly in the red in afternoon trade.
The Dow shed 178.88 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 24,834.41, while the NASDAQ lost 15.58 points or 0.21 percent to 7,378.46 and the S&P fell 8.57 points or 0.31 percent to 2,724.44.
Stocks headed south later in the day after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated his displeasure with ongoing trade negotiations with China, spurring concerns of a trade war.
Crude oil futures were flat Tuesday morning, holding near four-year highs after profit taking. July WTI, the new front-month contract, fell 15 cents or 0.2 percent to $72.20. June WTI oil was down 11 cents or nearly 0.2 percent to settle at $72.13/bbl.
Closer to home, Singapore will see April data for consumer prices later today; in March, inflation was down 0.2 percent on month and up 0.2 percent on year.
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