The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 65 points or 1.8 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,590-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following the release of strong U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index gained 11.70 points or 0.33 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,589.13 after moving as low as 3,569.90.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.47 percent, while CapitaLand Investment climbed 0.97 percent, City Developments and UOL Group both fell 0.36 percent, DBS Group collected 0.53 percent, Genting Singapore jumped 1.14 percent, Hongkong Land surged 1.81 percent, Keppel Ltd and DFI Retail both gained 0.45 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tumbled 1.31 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.79 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust sank 0.68 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.20 percent, SATS strengthened 1.06 percent, Seatrium Limited skyrocketed 12.43 percent, SembCorp Industries soared 1.64 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 0.64 percent, SingTel shed 0.62 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 0.95 percent, Wilmar International spiked 1.52 percent, Yangzijiang Financial rallied 1.25 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding advanced 0.81 percent and Comfort DelGro, Emperador and Keppel DC REIT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 341.15 points or 0.81 percent to finish at a record 42,352.75, while the NASDAQ rallied 219.35 points or 1.22 percent to end at 18,137.85 and the S&P 500 advanced 51.13 points or 0.90 percent to close at 5,751.

The support on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 254,000 jobs in September after rising by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in August.

The stronger than expected jobs growth eased concerns about the economic outlook, but dashed hopes of aggressive rate cuts in the coming months.Following the jobs data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 91.2% the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in November and just a 8.8 percent chance of another half point rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Friday on concerns about a possible attack on Iran's oil facilities by Israel, while upbeat U.S. jobs data also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.67 or 0.91 percent at $74.38 a barrel, a five-week high. WTI crude futures gained more than 9 percent in the week.

Source: RTTNews