The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in consecutive trading days, advancing almost 95 points or 3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,060-point plateau and it’s called higher again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets remains positive on optimism that the trade war between the United States and China will soon come to an end. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, plantations and industrials.
For the day, the index jumped 42.05 points or 1.39 percent to finish at 3,060.85 after trading between 3,040.93 and 3,061.49. Volume was 2.33 billion shares worth 1.23 billion Singapore dollars. There were 226 gainers and 175 decliners.
Among the actives, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation surged 3.82percent, while City Developments soared 3.67 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding spiked 2.42 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust plummeted 2.31 percent, DBS Group jumped 2.09 percent, Hutchison Port Holdings tumbled 2.04 percent, Golden Agri-Resources climbed 1.96 percent, Thai Beverage advanced 1.60 percent, Comfort DelGro perked 1.33 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 1.15 percent, Genting Singapore added 1.14 percent, Keppel Corp gained 0.81 percent, SembCorp Industries was up 0.71 percent, SingTel gathered 0.63 percent, Ascendas REIT rose 0.40 percent and Wilmar International was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street continues to be firm as stocks shook off a lackluster open on Thursday to finish sharply higher, extending recent gains.
The Dow added 264.98 points or 1.06 percent to 25,380.74, while the NASDAQ jumped 128.16 points or 1.75 percent to 7,434.06 and the S&P gained 28.63 points or 1.06 percent to 2,740.37.
The continued strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump said he had a “very good” conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade. That follows recent reports the U.S. will impose tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if the talks at the G20 summit fail to ease the trade war.
In economic news, the Labor Department reported a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits in the week ended October 27. The Labor Department also noted a slowdown in labor productivity growth in Q3, while the Institute for Supply Management noted a bigger than expected slowdown in manufacturing activity in October.
Crude oil prices drifted lower for a fourth straight session on Thursday, on concerns of oversupply and fading demand. Crude futures for December were down $1.62, or 2.5 percent at 63.69 a barrel, the lowest settlement in nearly seven months.
