FX.co ★ Singapore Shares May Take Further Damage On Friday

The Singapore stock market has experienced a downturn in two of the last three trading sessions, following a brief two-day rally that added over 20 points or a 0.6% increase. The Straits Times Index is currently positioned slightly above the 3,585 mark and may continue its decline into Friday's trading.

Globally, a muted outlook for the Asian markets arises due to waning optimism regarding future interest rate trends. With both European and U.S. markets closing slightly lower, Asian exchanges are anticipated to mirror this sentiment.

On Thursday, the STI concluded the day with a moderate decline, affected by weaknesses in the industrial sector and varied results among the financial and property sectors. The index fell by 10.37 points, or 0.29%, settling at 3,585.29, after fluctuating within the 3,578.48 to 3,620.78 range.

Notable movements included CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, which dropped by 1.42%, and City Developments, down by 0.38%. Comfort DelGro and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust each decreased by 1.36%. DBS Group and Keppel Ltd slipped by 0.15% each. Conversely, Hongkong Land saw a 0.25% increase, while Keppel DC REIT surged by 2.30%. Other changes included Mapletree Logistics Trust down by 0.70%, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell by 0.33%, and SATS up by 0.80%. Seatrium Limited, SembCorp Industries, and Singapore Technologies Engineering saw declines of 0.98%, 1.09%, and 0.85% respectively. SingTel fell by 0.63%, whereas Wilmar International advanced by 0.60%. Yangzijiang Financial rose by 1.23%, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted by 2.75%. Emperador, Genting Singapore, CapitaLand Investment, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Industrial Trust, DFI Retail Group, and Frasers Centrepoint Trust remained unchanged.

The latest update from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation, as the main indices opened slightly lower on Thursday and largely remained there throughout the session.

By day's end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 57.88 points or 0.14% to 42,454.12. The NASDAQ Composite dipped by 9.57 points or 0.05% to close at 18,282.05, and the S&P 500 fell 11.99 points or 0.21% to conclude at 5,780.05.

This slight weakness in Wall Street was attributed to a closely watched Labor Department report indicating that U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in September, dimming hopes that the Federal Reserve will significantly reduce interest rates in the near future.

Additionally, negative market sentiment was fueled by another Labor Department finding, which showed a greater than anticipated increase in initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Separately, oil prices surged significantly on Thursday due to growing fears of intensifying tensions in the Middle East, which outweighed unclear demand projections. West Texas Intermediate Crude for November rose by $2.61, or approximately 3.56%, closing at $75.85 per barrel.