The Singapore stock market has finished lower in six straight trading days, sinking almost 200 points or 6.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,040-point plateau and it's got another weak lead for Wednesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on continued COVID-19 worries and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially from the financials and industrials.
For the day, the index plunged 79.29 points or 2.54 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,041.29 after peaking at 3,129.54. Volume was 3.22 billion shares worth 3.89 billion Singapore dollars. There were 338 decliners and 172 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT slumped 2.34 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Jardine Cycle both fell 1.40 percent, City Developments added 0.29 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 4.20 percent, Dairy Farm International and Thai Beverage both weakened 2.19 percent, DBS Group declined 2.99 percent, Genting Singapore skidded 2.53 percent, Keppel Corp sank 2.11 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust stumbled 2.39 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 1.87 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation surrendered 3.17 percent, SATS retreated 2.56 percent, SembCorp Industries plunged 4.08 percent, Singapore Airlines slid 0.81 percent, Singapore Exchange tumbled 3.25 percent, Singapore Press Holdings eased 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering was down 0.78 percent, SingTel dropped 2.07 percent, United Overseas Bank tanked 4.00 percent, Wilmar International shed 1.91 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained largely under water throughout the trading day.