The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 60 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,225-point plateau although investors may cash in on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly higher on Monday, lifted into the green by strong gains from the financials.
For the day, the index gained 21.79 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 3,227.05 after trading between 3,209.30 and 3,241.41. Volume was 1.29 billion shares worth 1.28 billion Singapore dollars. There were 265 decliners and 217 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT skidded 1.03 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust plunged 1.98 percent, City Developments dipped 0.15 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 1.47 percent, Dairy Farm International dropped 0.69 percent, DBS Group soared 2.04 percent, Keppel Corp fell 0.20 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust plummeted 2.20 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation spiked 1.85 percent, SATS rose 0.26 percent, SembCorp Industries jumped 0.47 percent, Singapore Airlines rallied 0.80 percent, Singapore Exchange gained 0.31 percent, Singapore Press Holdings and SingTel both added 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering lost 0.27 percent, United Overseas Bank surged 3.08 percent, Wilmar International retreated 0.92 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.76 percent and Jardine Matheson, Genting Singapore, Thai Beverage and Mapletree Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mostly soft as the major averages opened sharply lower on Monday. They showed improvement as the session progressed, with the NASDAQ creeping up over the unchanged line.
The Dow dropped 162.79 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 36,068.87, while the NASDAQ rose 6.93 points or 0.05 percent to close at 14,942.83 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.74 points or 0.14 percent to end at 4,670.29.
The early weakness on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about the economic impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and the likelihood the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the near future.
Treasury yields have moved sharply higher in recent sessions, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest levels since January of 2020.
The jump in yields comes amid a more hawkish tone from the Fed after the minutes of the central bank's latest meeting indicated plans to accelerate monetary policy normalization.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to the rapid surge in the Omicron variant of the coronavirus across the globe. A firm dollar amid rising prospects for a series of interest rate hikes weighed as well on crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February slipped $0.67 or 0.9 percent at $78.23 a barrel.