(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after ending 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 3,230-point plateau although it figures to rebound again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support from technology shares tempered by weakness from oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financials, properties and industrials.
For the day, the index slipped 9.62 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 3,228.45 after trading between 3,226.17 and 3,248.38. Volume was 2.26 billion shares worth 1.38 billion Singapore dollars. There were 279 gainers and 188 decliners.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust spiked 0.93 percent, while City Developments dropped 0.41 percent, Comfort DelGro plummeted 3.21 percent, Dairy Farm International gathered 0.30 percent, DBS Group collected 0.44 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 0.61 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.19 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust sank 0.47 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.17 percent, SATS tanked 1.43 percent, Singapore Airlines plunged 2.02 percent, Singapore Exchange gained 0.21 percent, Singapore Press Holdings jumped 0.87 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering perked 0.26 percent, SingTel climbed 0.78 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.37 percent, United Overseas Bank retreated 1.25 percent, Wilmar International added 0.23 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 1.59 percent and CapitaLand, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Jardine Matheson, Ascendas REIT and SembCorp Industries were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages open modestly higher on Friday but accelerated as the day progressed, finishing at or near session highs.
The Dow jumped 179.11 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 36,100.31, while the NASDAQ spiked 156.66 points or 1.00 percent to close at 15,860.96 and the S&P 500 gained 33.58 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,682.85. For the week, the Dow dipped 0.6 percent, the NASDAQ lost 0.7 percent and the S&P eased 0.3 percent.
The strength on Wall Street came as the concerns about inflation raised by the Labor Department's consumer price report seem to have been short-lived.
Federal Reserve officials have also repeatedly described the factors driving inflation as transitory, indicating the central bank is not currently considering accelerating monetary policy tightening.
In economic news, the University of Michigan noted an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in November.
Crude oil futures tumbled sharply lower on Friday, weighed down by a firm dollar and a downward revision in global oil demand forecast by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down by $0.80 or 1 percent at $80.79 a barrel.