In recent trading sessions, the Singapore stock market has experienced upward momentum in two out of three days, bouncing back after a four-day dip during which it fell over 65 points or 1.8%. Currently, the Straits Times Index (STI) hovers just above the 3,580 mark and is expected to remain within a narrow range on Thursday.
The global economic outlook for Asian markets predicts limited movement, influenced by ongoing unrest in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets have shown minimal changes with slight upward tendencies, suggesting Asian exchanges may mirror this trend.
On Wednesday, the STI recorded a modest increase, led by gains in the property sector and mixed performances among financial and industrial shares. The index rose 3.71 points or 0.10%, closing at 3,584.67, after fluctuating between 3,574.61 and 3,599.35 throughout the session.
In individual stock movements, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust saw an uptick of 0.47%, and CapitaLand Investment surged 2.27%. Comfort DelGro improved by 0.67%, while DBS Group declined by 0.32%. Meanwhile, DFI Retail climbed 4.13%, and Emperador fell 1.16%. Genting Singapore increased by 0.57%, Hongkong Land surged 3.45%, and Keppel Ltd dropped 0.60%. Other notable changes included Mapletree Industrial Trust's rise of 1.21%, Mapletree Logistics Trust's 0.68% gain, and a minor increase of 0.07% for Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. SATS advanced 1.91%, whereas Seatrium Limited declined 2.23%. SembCorp Industries and UOL Group each climbed 0.36%, Singapore Technologies Engineering rose 1.08%, SingTel decreased 0.62%, Thai Beverage jumped 1.90%, and Wilmar International rallied 1.54%. Meanwhile, Yangzijiang Financial, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, City Developments, Keppel DC REIT, and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust remained unchanged.
On Wall Street, a slight upward trend was observed. The major indices began Wednesday on a slightly lower note, remained stable through the session, and finished mildly higher. The Dow gained 39.55 points or 0.09% to close at 42,196.52. The NASDAQ rose by 14.76 points or 0.08% to end at 17,925.12, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.79 points or 0.01% to settle at 5,709.54.
Early losses on Wall Street reflected heightened concern over escalating tensions following Iran's missile strike against Israel. Despite Iran stating it does not seek broader conflict, the incident has caused crude oil prices to spike, raising fears of increased inflation due to higher energy costs.
Additionally, reduced confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue with aggressive interest rate cuts was influenced by ADP's report of stronger-than-anticipated private sector job growth in September.
Oil futures saw a modest rise on Wednesday, with traders anticipating a supply decrease amid Middle Eastern tensions. November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $0.27 or 0.39%, at $70.10 per barrel.
