The Singapore stock market on Monday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 45 points or 1.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,180-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with technology stocks expected to lead the markets lower - although crude oil prices offer mild support. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were negative and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the property stocks and industrials, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index lost 17.85 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 3,182.41 after trading between 3,177.60 and 3,206.24. Volume was 2.12 billion shares worth 1.15 billion Singapore dollars.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT tanked 1.31 percent, while CapitaLand slid 0.55 percent, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust sank 0.94 percent, City Developments lost 0.78 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 1.79 percent, Dairy Farm International gained 0.23 percent, DBS Group was down 0.17 percent, Genting Singapore retreated 1.18 percent, Keppel Corp dropped 0.93 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust surrendered 0.95 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.08 percent, SATS tumbled 1.25 percent, SembCorp Industries declined 0.98 percent, Singapore Airlines plunged 1.62 percent, Singapore Exchange shed 0.87 percent, Singapore Press Holdings surged 3.29 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering dipped 0.53 percent, SingTel weakened 0.41 percent, Thai Beverage added 0.70 percent, United Overseas Bank eased 0.15 percent, Wilmar International skidded 1.21 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding fell 0.65 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Jardine Strategic Holdings and Hongkong Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all ended up in the red as the session progressed.
The Dow fell 34.94 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 34,742.82, while the NASDAQ plummeted 350.38 points or 2.55 percent to end at 13,401.86 and the S&P 500 sank 44.17 points or 1.04 percent to close at 4,188.43.
The steep drop by the NASDAQ came amid weakness among technology stocks following negative analyst comments about several big-name companies including Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Facebook (FB) and Oracle (ORCL).
Concerns about the outlook for inflation may also have weighed on the markets amid an increase in commodities prices.
Crude oil futures were marginally higher Monday on news of the shutdown of critical fuel supply pipelines in the U.S. following a major cyberattack. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up $0.02 or 0.02 percent at $64.92 a barrel.
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