Singapore Shares Tipped To Bounce Higher Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 325 points or 8.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,830-point plateau and it's looking at another strong lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets finished solidly higher and the Asian bourses are also expected to open in the green.

The STI finished barely lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index dipped 0.40 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,831.92 after trading between 3,825.98 and 3,851.38.

Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment sank 0.38 percent, while City Developments soared 3.06 percent, Comfort DelGro strengthened 1.32 percent, DBS Group tumbled 1.26 percent, DFI Retail retreated 0.82 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 2.04 percent, Hongkong Land fell 0.24 percent, Keppel Ltd spiked 2.97 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust tanked 1.61 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plunged 4.13 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 0.30 percent, SATS added 0.72 percent, Seatrium Limited dropped 0.52 percent, SembCorp Industries accelerated 2.21 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering surged 3.39 percent, SingTel advanced 0.80 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 2.00 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plummeted 4.83 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding gained 0.46 percent and Keppel DC REIT, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Emperador, Wilmar International and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened mixed but quickly moved sharply higher, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow spiked 486.83 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 40,093.40, while the NASDAQ rallied 457.99 points or 2.74 percent to close at 17,166.04 and the S&P 500 jumped 108.91 points or 2.03 percent to end at 5,484.77.

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the best performances on the day, resulting in a 5.6 percent spike by Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Texas Instruments (TXN) and Lam Research (LRCX) fueled the rally on better than expected quarterly earnings.

Later in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. may reach "an agreement on understanding" on trade with South Korea "as soon as next week."

On the economic front, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged modestly higher last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in March

Crude oil showed a modest move back to the upside on Thursday following the steep drop in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.16 or 0.3 percent to $62.43 a barrel after plunging $1.40 or 2.2 percent to $62.27 a barrel a day earlier.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide March results for industrial production later today; in February, production was down 7.5 percent on Month and 1.3 percent on year.