(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 30 points or 1 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,240-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with support from technology and oil stocks. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index added 6.75 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,238.07 after trading between 3,207.32 and 3,238.58. Volume was 1.41 billion shares worth 1.15 billion Singapore dollars. There were 263 gainers and 194 decliners.
Among the actives, City Developments lost 0.41 percent, while Comfort DelGro plummeted 3.11 percent, Dairy Farm International dropped 0.59 percent, DBS Group improved 0.40 percent, Keppel Corp sank 0.56 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust gained 0.47 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.17 percent, SATS fell 0.24 percent, SembCorp Industries shed 0.49 percent, Singapore Airlines added 0.55 percent, Singapore Exchange dipped 0.21 percent, Singapore Press Holdings surged 6.94 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering perked 0.26 percent, SingTel rose 0.39 percent, Thai Beverage tanked 0.68 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.83 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.23 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Genting Singapore, Jardine Matheson, CapitaLand, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Ascendas REIT were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 opened higher on Thursday and remained that way, while the Dow opened in the red and closed under pressure.
The Dow dropped 158.71 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 35,921.23, while the NASDAQ advanced 81.58 points or 0.52 percent to close at 15,704.28 and the S&P 500 rose 2.56 points or 0.06 percent to end at 4,649.27.
The rebound by the NASDAQ and S&P 500 came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels after the drop on Tuesday and Wednesday dragged the major averages down well off Monday's record closing highs.
A notable decline by shares of Disney (DIS) weighed on the Dow, with the entertainment giant slumping by 7.1 percent after its Q3 numbers missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
But overall trading activity was subdued as some traders stuck to the sidelines amid the Veterans Day holiday. While the stock markets were open as usual on the day, banks, federal offices and the bonds markets all remained closed.
Crude oil futures settled higher on as traders weighed global energy demand and supply prospects. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up by $0.25 or 0.3 percent at $81.59 a barrel.