Renewed Support Likely For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the modest two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 2,840-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is optimistic thanks to Brexit and stimulus news, although profit taking may set in as the day progresses. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished slightly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index eased 1.90 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 2,840.14 after trading between 2,834.58 and 2,851.82. Volume was 1.46 billion shares worth 740.4 million Singapore dollars. There were 231 decliners and 207 gainers.

Among the actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.72 percent, while Singapore Press Holdings soared 0.92 percent, City Developments spiked 0.75 percent, Dairy Farm International plunged 0.71 percent, Thai Beverage tanked 0.68 percent, Comfort DelGro rallied 0.60 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 0.59 percent, SembCorp Industries skidded 0.58 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.55 percent, SATS dropped 0.50 percent, SingTel added 0.43 percent, CapitaLand shed 0.31 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.22 percent, DBS Group lost 0.16 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.13 percent, Singapore Exchange rose 0.11 percent, Venture Corporation and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation both collected 0.10 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Ascendas REIT, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Singapore Technologies Engineering, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Singapore Airlines all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as stocks opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the session, sending the major averages to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 204.10 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 30,403.97, while the NASDAQ climbed 94.69 points or 0.74 percent to end at 12,899.42 and the S&P 500 gained 32.30 points or 0.87 percent to close at 3,735.36.

The strength on Wall Street came in reaction to news that President Donald Trump finally signed a $2.3 trillion government spending bill that includes approximately $900 billion in coronavirus relief funds.

Trading activity remained subdued, however, with many traders still away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Friday.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday as rising coronavirus cases and tighter restrictions on travel in several places raised concerns about outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.61 or 1.3 percent at $47.62 a barrel.

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