The Singapore stock market ended a three-day losing streak Wednesday, during which it had dropped approximately 35 points or 1.1 percent. Currently, The Straits Times Index is slightly above a 3,135-point plateau and it is projected to continue to rise come Thursday.
Global forecasts suggest mild increases for the Asian markets, driven by a positive outlook for interest rates. This mood is bolstered by the growth seen in both the European and U.S. markets, and Asian exchanges are predicted to follow this trend.
On Wednesday, The Straits Times Index saw minor increases, brought about by gains from financial shares, property stocks, and industrial goods. The index jumped up 29.04 points or 0.93 percent, settling at 3,136.14, after fluctuations between 3,114.43 and 3,151.08.
Active contributors to this upturn include Ascendas REIT who saw a 0.37 percent rise and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust jumped 1.58 percent. Other contributors include CapitaLand Investment, City Developments, DBS Group, Emperador, SembCorp Industries, Genting Singapore, Keppel DC REIT, Keppel Ltd, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Seatrium Limited, Singapore Technologies Engineering, SingTel, Thai Beverage, Wilmar International, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding also registered positive figures. Meanwhile, Comfort DelGro and Hongkong Land recorded losses, and SATS and Yangzijiang Financial remained steady.
In US trends, leading Wall Street indicators opened stronger on Wednesday, wavered midafternoon, but rallied later to modestly finish in green. The Dow Jones rose by 75.86 points or 0.20 percent, NASDAQ increased by 91.96 points or 0.58 percent, and the S&P 500 ascended by 26.11 points or 0.51 percent.
This Wall Street rebound was largely spurred by the US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell's congressional testimony. He suggested that it will probably be fitting for the Federal Reserve to start reducing interest rates at some point this year, provided officials gain "greater confidence" that inflation is on a sustainable path towards 2 percent.
In economic news, ADP payroll processing reported that private sector employment in the US during February fell slightly below expectations. In oil news, after significant falls in gasoline and distillate reserves this past week, crude oil futures ended higher. Specifically, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed by $0.98 or 1.25 percent, ending at $79.13 a barrel.
