The Singapore stock market has experienced declines for four consecutive sessions, shedding over 65 points or approximately 1.8 percent in total. The Straits Times Index (STI) currently hovers just above the 3,570 mark, with expectations of support in the coming week.
The outlook for Asian markets indicates minimal changes due to a lack of significant catalysts. While European markets showed gains and U.S. markets had mixed results, it is likely that Asian markets will track the latter.
On Friday, the STI ended slightly lower with mixed results across financial, property, and industrial sectors. Specifically, the index fell by 8.87 points or 0.25 percent to close at 3,573.36, fluctuating between 3,559.86 and 3,583.60 throughout the day.
Key movers included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (+0.47%), CapitaLand Investment (+2.67%), City Developments (+1.31%), Comfort DelGro (-0.66%), DBS Group (-1.83%), DFI Retail (+9.55%), Genting Singapore (+3.59%), Hongkong Land (+1.10%), Keppel Ltd (+1.38%), Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (+2.74%), Mapletree Industrial Trust (+0.81%), Mapletree Logistics Trust (+1.39%), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (-0.79%), SATS (-0.83%), Seatrium Limited (-1.70%), Singapore Technologies Engineering (+0.65%), SingTel (-0.31%), Thai Beverage (+0.95%), Wilmar International (+7.01%), Yangzijiang Financial (+5.56%), Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (-6.34%), with Emperador, Keppel DC REIT, SembCorp Industries, and Frasers Centrepoint Trust remaining unchanged.
Wall Street’s recent performance provides little direction; major indices opened slightly higher on Friday but ended the day with mixed and marginal changes. Specifically, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 137.89 points or 0.33 percent to a record 42,313.00, while the NASDAQ fell 70.70 points or 0.39 percent to 18,119.59 and the S&P 500 decreased by 7.20 points or 0.13 percent to 5,738.17. Over the week, the NASDAQ gained 1.0 percent, and both the Dow and S&P 500 increased by 0.6 percent.
The mixed results on Wall Street followed the release of key U.S. consumer price inflation data for August. According to the Commerce Department, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose slightly by 0.1 percent in August, matching a 0.2 percent rise in July and meeting market expectations.
Oil futures ended higher on Friday due to additional stimulus measures from the Chinese government, which alleviated some concerns over demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November increased by $0.51, closing at $68.18 per barrel.
