The Singapore stock market has seen a decline in two consecutive sessions, falling nearly 15 points or half a percentage. Currently, the Straits Times Index (STI) stands just over the 3,280-point level, but it's expected to rebound on Monday.
The international sentiment for Asian markets is positive. This positivity is due to encouraging inflation data and strong performance from oil and technology companies. European and U.S. markets have exhibited solid growth, and it's anticipated that Asian markets will follow suit.
On Friday, the STI slightly decreased as financial and industrial losses were balanced out by support from the financial sector. The index dwindled by 7.65 points or 0.23 percent to close at 3,280.10 after fluctuating between 3,271.58 and 3,297.80.
Key players included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, which declined by 0.51 percent, and CapitaLand Investment, which increased by 0.38 percent - amongst others. Meanwhile, stocks such as Comfort DelGro, Mapletree Pan Asia, Commercial Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Yangzijiang Financial, Genting Singapore, and DFI Retail remained steady.
From Wall Street, the primary indicators opened higher on Friday and maintained their position in the green throughout the trading day. For instance, the Dow Jones increased by 153.86 points or 0.40 percent, closing at 38,239.66. Additionally, the NASDAQ spiked by 316.10 points or 2.02 percent, concluding at 15,927.90, and the S&P 500 rose by 51.54 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 5,099.96.
Major tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, and Snap reported positive earnings news, causing a market rally. Alongside this, traders reacted well to inflation reports from the Commerce Department, indicating a steady increase in U.S. consumer prices last March that met estimates.
Oil prices also saw a modest incline on Friday, due to optimism about future oil demand and supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.28 or 0.34 percent at $83.85 a barrel.
Looking ahead, Singapore is set to disclose Q1 unemployment statistics later today. In the previous quarter, the unemployment rate stood at 2.0 percent.