The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, giving away more than 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,245-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns regarding the coronavirus outbreak in China. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index sank 32.92 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 3,247.17 after trading between 3,232.99 and 3,275.15. Volume was 2.67 billion shares worth 1.11 billion Singapore dollars. There were 350 decliners and 138 gainers.
Among the actives, Thai Beverage plummeted 4.12 percent, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plunged 3.51 percent, Wilmar International tumbled 2.57 percent, City Development skidded 2.29 percent, Singapore Airlines retreated 2.00 percent, CapitaLand declined 1.79 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 1.75 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering sank 1.67 percent, Genting Singapore shed 1.59 percent, Singapore Press Holdings lost 1.42 percent, Comfort DelGro fell 1.33 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust slid 0.93 percent, SingTel dipped 0.91 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust was down 0.77 percent, United Overseas Bank lost 0.64 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.55 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.45 percent, Keppel Corp fell 0.44 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust dipped 0.41 percent, Ascendas REIT sank 0.32 percent and DBS Group was down 0.30 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks fluctuated on Tuesday before ending in the red, pulling back from last week's record closing highs.
The Dow shed 152.06 points or 0.52 percent to 29,196.04, while the NASDAQ lost 18.14 points or 0.19 percent to 9,370.81 and the S&P 500 fell 8.83 points or 0.27 percent to 3,320.79.
Stocks moved to the downside on concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Chinese officials said the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in six deaths among nearly 300 confirmed cases, with the virus confirmed to be transmissible among humans.
Adding to the negative sentiment, the International Monetary Fund downwardly revised its forecast for global economic outlook on bigger than expected slowdowns in emerging markets like India.
Crude oil prices edged lower on Tuesday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said the sharp climb in U.S. oil production outweighed concerns about supply disruptions in Libya. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March, slipped $0.20 or 0.3 percent to $58.38 a barrel.
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