The Singapore stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,460-point plateau although it's likely to be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat with a touch of downside ahead of earnings news and economic data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks, trusts and industrials.
For the day, the index advanced 23.90 points or 0.70 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,461.16 after trading as low as 3,448.69.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.49 percent, while CapitaLand Investment and DFI Retail both rallied 1.12 percent, City Developments was up 0.19 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.72 percent, DBS Group spiked 1.52 percent, Genting Singapore increased 0.59 percent, Hongkong Land and Keppel Ltd both gathered 0.30 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust strengthened 0.76 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 0.44 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 0.73 percent, SATS improved 0.62 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 3.45 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.22 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering gained 0.45 percent, SingTel slumped 0.98 percent, Thai Beverage soared 2.02 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Jardine Matheson both jumped 0.87 percent and Wilmar International, Yangzijiang Financial, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Emperador, Keppel DC REIT, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up soft as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and spent almost the entire session in the green before a late slump dropped them barely into negative territory.
The Dow shed 57.35 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 40,358.09, while the NASDAQ dipped 10.22 points or 0.06 percent to close at 17.997.35 and the S&P 500 fell 8.70 points or 0.16 percent to end at 5,555.71.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the outlook for the markets following recent volatility.
Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key earnings and economic news in the coming days.
Later in the week, focus is likely to shift to a report on personal income and spending in June, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.
Oil prices fell to near seven-week lows on Tuesday as investors brace for a likely drop in demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.44 or 1.83 percent at $76.96 a barrel, the lowest settlement since June 7. – RTT News