To The Moon

The Singapore stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 120 points or 3.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,355-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates, as well as profit taking among some of the more overbought bourses. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and properties were capped by weakness from the industrials.

For the day, the index climbed 24.88 points or 0.75 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,355.51 after moving as low as 3,330.33. Volume was 1.73 billion shares worth 1.55 billion Singapore dollars. There were 286 gainers and 175 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT added 0.69 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust surged 1.83 percent, City Developments rose 0.27 percent, Comfort DelGro strengthened 0.71 percent, Dairy Farm International skyrocketed 5.02 percent, DBS Group spiked 1.27 percent, Genting Singapore gained 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land sank 0.80 percent, Keppel Corp dipped 0.16 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust improved 0.53 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust gathered 0.55 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation jumped 1.08 percent, SATS rallied 0.76 percent, SembCorp Industries tumbled 1.14 percent, Singapore Airlines was up 0.19 percent, Singapore Exchange and Venture Corporation both advanced 0.72 percent, Singapore Press Holdings increased 0.43 percent, SingTel accelerated 1.17 percent, Thai Beverage climbed 0.73 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.41 percent, Wilmar International soared 1.52 percent and Singapore Technologies Engineering and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages spent most of Monday morning bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before moving solidly lower in the afternoon and finishing that way.

The Dow tumbled 201.94 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 34,552.99, while the NASDAQ sank 55.38 points or 0.40 percent to close at 13,838.46 and the S&P 500 fell 1.94 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,461.18.

The lower close on Wall Street came following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested the central bank might raise interest rates more aggressively if inflation remains too high.

The pullback on Wall Street also reflected profit taking as lingering concerns about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and higher oil prices inspired traders to cash in on last week's gains.

Crude oil prices hit a two-week high on Monday amid concerns over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and on expectations the EU might impose a ban on Russian oil. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $7.42 or 7.1 percent at $112.12 a barrel.