The Singapore stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one session after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,220-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support coming from technology, finance and 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 higher on Thursday following gains from the property stocks, weakness from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index improved 22.78 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 3,233.61 after trading between 3,227.48 and 3,242.98. Volume was 1.33 billion shares worth 1.04 billion Singapore dollars. There were 278 gainers and 197 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT strengthened 0.70 percent, while City Developments rose 0.48 percent, DBS Group surged 2.20 percent, Genting Singapore climbed 0.66 percent, Hongkong Land gathered 0.42 percent, Keppel Corp shed 0.54 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust soared 1.61 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust and Venture Corporation both rallied 1.16 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust accelerated 1.18 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.17 percent, SATS gained 0.50 percent, SembCorp Industries sank 0.87 percent, Singapore Exchange was up 0.21 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering advanced 0.54 percent, SingTel perked 0.37 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 0.79 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.67 percent, Wilmar International added 0.51 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 1.33 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Investment, Comfort DelGro and DFI Retail were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday, using an afternoon rally to climb up into positive territory.
The Dow jumped 193.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 31,774.52, while the NASDAQ gained 70.23 points or 0.60 percent to end at 11,862.13 and the S&P 500 rose 26.31 points or 0.66 percent to close at 4,006.18.
The volatility on Wall Street came as traders digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated the central bank's commitment to aggressively fighting inflation.
Powell's comments are seen as reinforcing expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates by another 75 basis points at its next meeting later this month.
In economic news, the Labor Department unexpectedly reported a modest decrease in initial jobless claims last week.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday following Russia's threat to halt oil and gas exports to some buyers. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.60 or 2 percent at $83.54 a barrel.