Singapore Stock Market Expected To Be Rangebound On Tuesday

The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 10 points or 0.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,235-point plateau and it's likely to see renewed consolidation on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology stocks expected to weigh - although support from crude oil prices should limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and industrial stocks.

For the day, the index added 4.74 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 3,237.08 after trading between 3,231.10 and 3,244.73. Volume was 1.7 billion shares worth 936.5 million Singapore dollars. There were 282 decliners and 190 gainers.

Among the actives, City Developments was up 0.14 percent, while Comfort DelGro tumbled 0.65 percent, Dairy Farm International plummeted 3.02 percent, DBS Group rose 0.15 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.60 percent, Keppel Corp and Wilmar International both spiked 0.94 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust retreated 0.47 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust skidded 0.51 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation gained 0.17 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 0.99 percent, Singapore Airlines dipped 0.19 percent, Singapore Exchange declined 0.43 percent, SingTel added 0.40 percent, Thai Beverage plunged 2.04 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.29 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 1.59 percent and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Ascendas REIT, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Singapore Press Holdings and SATS were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is not encouraging as the major averages opened higher on Monday but tumbled late in the day, with only the Dow managing to barely hang on to positive territory.

The Dow rose 17.27 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 35,619.25, while the NASDAQ plunged 202.68 points or 1.26 percent to close at 15,854.76 and the S&P fell 15.02 points or 0.32 percent to end at 4,682.94.

The mixed close on Wall Street came after President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chair. The White House also revealed that Biden intends to nominate current Fed Governor Lael Brainard as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve System.

While the re-nomination of Powell will give the Fed stability as it grapples with the economic recovery and elevated inflation, Brainard was seen as the more dovish choice.

Crude oil futures settled higher Monday despite rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to a surge in coronavirus cases in several countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.81 or 1.1 percent at $76.75 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release October numbers for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.3 percent on year - accelerating from 1.2 percent in September. Core CPI is called higher by an annual 2.8 percent, up from 2.5 percent a month earlier.