The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 35 points or 1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just shy of the 34,000-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected following recent optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the properties and trusts were capped by weakness from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index added 8.04 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 3,396.03 after trading between 3,384.18 and 3,406.63.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust strengthened 1.91 percent, while City Developments jumped 2.12 percent, Comfort DelGro slumped 0.72 percent, DBS Group and Singapore Technologies Engineering both fell 0.22 percent, Emperador improved 1.18 percent, Hongkong Land surged 4.51 percent, Keppel DC REIT increased 0.95 percent, Keppel Ltd added 0.16 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust spiked 3.03 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust advanced 1.26 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust rallied 2.26 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.35 percent, SATS soared 3.08 percent, Seatrium Limited retreated 1.35 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.63 percent, SingTel surrendered 2.04 percent, Wilmar International climbed 1.28 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 2.38 percent and Genting Singapore, Yangzijiang Financial, Thai Beverage, CapitaLand Investment and DFI Retail Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but quickly headed south, eventually all ending under water.

The Dow dipped 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 41,175.08, while the NASDAQ sank 152.03 points or 0.85 percent to close at 17,725.77 and the S&P 500 lost 17.77 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,616.84.

The Dow found mild support from 3M Co. (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO) and Walt Disney (DIS). On the other hand, substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks weighed on the NASDAQ, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 2.5 percent.

Within the semiconductor sector, AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumped by 2.3 percent ahead of the release of its fiscal second quarter results on Wednesday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in July.

The price of crude oil moved sharply higher on Monday, extending recent gains amid renewed geopolitical concerns after Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery shot up $2.36 or 3.2 percent to $77.19 a barrel. – RTT News