The Singapore stock market has finished higher in six straight sessions, improving almost 95 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,440-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks.
For the day, the index added 8.71 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 3,442.61 after trading between 3,431.87 and 3,448.81. Volume was 1.39 billion shares worth 1.39 billion Singapore dollars. There were 295 gainers and 192 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT was up 0.34 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust surged 1.79 percent, City Developments soared 1.40 percent, Comfort DelGro lost 0.67 percent, Dairy Farm International jumped 1.08 percent, DBS Group improved 0.44 percent, Hongkong Land perked 0.40 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.54 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gained 0.48 percent, SATS rose 0.46 percent, SembCorp Industries slumped 0.73 percent, Singapore Exchange and Thai Beverage both advanced 0.71 percent, SingTel rallied 0.76 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.47 percent, Wilmar International increased 0.41 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding spiked 1.32 percent and Keppel Corp, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Genting Singapore, Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore Technologies Engineering and Singapore Airlines were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and largely spent the entire day in the red.
The Dow shed 65.38 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 35,228.81, while the NASDAQ tumbled 177.36 points or 1.21 percent to end at 14,442.27 and the S&P 500 lost 29.15 points or 0.63 percent to close at 4,602.45.
Rising worries about inflation and imminent aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve also weighed on sentiment.
In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. climbed more than expected in March. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew slightly less than estimated in Q4 2021.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. inventories last week, and amid a lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $3.58 or 3.4 percent at $107.82 a barrel.
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