The Singapore stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, improving more than 85 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,435-point plateau and it's poised to extend its gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on hopes for a cease fire between Russia and Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished barely higher on Tuesday as gains from the trusts were offset by weakness from the financials and properties.
For the day, the index picked up 1.91 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 3,433.90 after trading between 3,413.35 and 3,456.09. Volume was 1.72 billion shares worth 1.4 billion Singapore dollars. There were 254 gainers and 202 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rallied 0.68 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust collected 0.45 percent, City Developments added 0.38 percent, Comfort DelGro soared 1.35 percent, Dairy Farm International skyrocketed 5.70 percent, DBS Group shed 0.53 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 0.60 percent, Hongkong Land lost 0.20 percent, Keppel Corp and Singapore Exchange both rose 0.31 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust advanced 0.52 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.54 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.16 percent, SATS tumbled 0.91 percent, SembCorp Industries gained 0.37 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slumped 0.48 percent, SingTel fell 0.38 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 0.71 percent, United Overseas Bank sank 0.68 percent, Wilmar International dropped 0.82 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.01 percent and Singapore Press Holdings and Singapore Airlines were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened firmly higher on Tuesday and stayed that way throughout the session.
The Dow surged 338.30 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 35,294.19, while the NASDAQ soared 264.73 points or 1.84 percent to end at 14,619.64 and the S&P 500 climbed 56.08 points or 1.23 percent to close at 4,631.08.
Reports about encouraging progress in a cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey helped lift investor sentiment on Wall Street.
In economic news, the Labor Department said the number of job openings in the United States was little changed in February, while the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 19.1 percent in January. And the Conference Board showed an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in March.
Crude oil prices dropped on Tuesday amid easing worries about global crude supply after positive reports of the peace talks. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May ended down by $1.72 or 1.6 percent at $104.24 a barrel.