To The Moon

The Singapore stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, collecting more than 120 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,100-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asianmarketsmixed to lower amid soft earnings news and ahead of the FOMC's policy announcement later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the industrials and properties.

For the day, the index climbed 33.92 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 3,093.11 after trading between 3,083.59 and 3,129.35. Volume was 1.82 billion shares worth 1.68 billion Singapore dollars. There were 292 gainers and 247 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT fell 0.38 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust lost 0.53 percent, CapitaLand Investment dropped 0.66 percent, City Developments gained 0.39 percent, Comfort DelGro added 0.79 percent, DBS Group climbed 1.24 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 2.55 percent, Hongkong Land skidded 0.77 percent, Keppel Corp rose 0.14 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust plummeted 4.79 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust tumbled 1.35 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.17 percent, SATS surged 5.41 percent, SembCorp Industries rallied 1.39 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering jumped 1.85 percent, SingTel accelerated 2.04 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 0.88 percent, United Overseas Bank soared 2.59 percent, Wilmar International skyrocketed 7.78 percent, Yangzijiang Financial plunged 4.62 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.83 percent and Emperador and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red on Monday and remained that way throughout the session.

The Dow slumped 128.85 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 32,732.95, while the NASDAQ sank 114.31 points or 1.03 percent to end at 10,988.15 and the S&P 500 dropped 29.08 points or 0.75 percent to close at 3,871.98.

The Dow posted a gain of almost 14 percent in October, the biggest monthly return since January 1976. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ added 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, last month.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by another 75 basis points - its fourth straight rate hike - to fight soaring inflation.

Also weighing were disappointing earnings results from the likes of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon Inc (AMZN), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.TO), Meta Platforms Inc (META) and Intel (INTC).

Crude oil prices fell Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China following a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases. A rise in oil output in the U.S., and a firm dollar also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $1.37 or 1.6 percent at $86.53 a barrel.