The Singapore stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 40 points or 1.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 2,480-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft with technology stocks expected to continue their roller coaster ride, this time to the downside. A rising number of coronavirus cases adds to the negative sentiment. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrials.
For the day, the index climbed 17.85 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 2,481.14 after trading between 2,454.84 and 2,487.31. Volume was 1.31 billion shares worth 1.10 billion Singapore dollars. There were 244 gainers and 153 decliners.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Commercial Trust surged 3.01 percent, while Singapore Airlines soared 2.98 percent, Singapore Press Holdings spiked 2.91 percent, SATS accelerated 2.17 percent, SingTel jumped 1.85 percent, Ascendas REIT climbed 1.24 percent, CapitaLand gathered 1.12 percent, Dairy Farm International perked 1.02 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust advanced 1/00 percent, Keppel Corp rallied 0.97 percent, Singapore Exchange and Venture Corporation both added 0.90 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.89 percent, Hongkong Land sank 0.82 percent, DBS Group rose 0.76 percent, SembCorp Industries increased 0.75 percent, Comfort DelGro was up 0.69 percent, City Developments added 0.64 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.53 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust gained 0.51 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.48 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Wilmar international, Genting Singapore, Mapletree Commercial Trust and Thai Beverage all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks moved sharply lower on Wednesday, wiping out gains from the previous session as the markets fell to a one-month closing low.
The Dow tumbled 525.05 points or 1.92 percent to finish at 26,763.13, while the NASDAQ plummeted 330.65 points or 3.02 percent to end at 10,632.99 and the S&P 500 dropped 78.65 points or 2.37 percent to close at 3,236.92.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed weakness among technology stocks, as reflected by the particularly steep drop by the tech-heavy NASDAQ. Big-name tech companies like Netflix (NFLX), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL) all showed significant moves to the downside.
Concerns about surging coronavirus cases in certain parts of the world may also have weighed on the markets even as President Donald Trump indicated the U.S. would not follow the U.K.'s lead and implement a second round of lockdowns.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, continuing to testify before Congress for the second day, said the U.S. Congress and the Federal Reserve both need to "stay with it" in working to bolster the economic recovery.
Crude oil futures settled higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. But the upside was capped by worries about the energy demand outlook amid a continued surge in coronavirus cases. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for November ended higher by $0.13 or 0.3 percent at $39.93 a barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will see August numbers for industrial production later today; in July, production was up 1.6 percent on month and down 8.4 percent on year.
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