The Singapore stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had given away almost 40 points or 1.3 percent. The Straits Times Index wound up just shy of the 2,970-point plateau, and now investors are anticipating further upside when the market kicks off trade on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat on optimism about the impact of the European Central Bank's long term refinancing operation. Also, the Conference Board reported a substantial improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in February. Gold stocks and airlines are expected to provide support, although property stocks may weigh. The European and U.S. markets finished higher, and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed bag from the plantation stocks.
For the day, the index collected 22.95 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 2,969.73 after trading between 2,945.37 and 2,970.44 on volume of 1,457 million shares. There were 238 gainers and 161 decliners.
Among the actives, Wilmar, OCBC, DBS Group and UOB all finished higher, while Golden Agri wound up lower.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved higher on Tuesday, although buying interest was somewhat subdued. The markets benefited from a positive reaction to upbeat consumer confidence data, which overshadowed some other disappointing data.
Much of the upside stemmed from a report from the Conference Board, which said its consumer confidence index jumped to 70.8 in February from a revised 61.5 in January. Economists had been expecting the index to increase to a reading of 64.0 from the 61.1 that had been reported for the previous month. With the increase, the consumer confidence index reached its best level since coming in at 72.0 in February 2011.
The upbeat consumer confidence data helped to overshadow a separate report from the Commerce Department showing that durable goods orders fell by 4.0 percent in January following a revised 3.2 percent increase in December. Economists had expected a decline of 0.7 percent. Excluding a 6.1 percent drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still fell by 3.2 percent in January compared to a 2.1 percent increase in December.
Standard & Poor's also released a report before the start of trading showing a bigger than expected drop in home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas in December.
The markets also benefited from optimism about the impact of the European Central Bank's long term refinancing operation. The LTRO, which essentially extends cheap financing to banks, is due on Wednesday.
Among individual stocks, Priceline.com (PCLN) rose by 7 percent after the online travel company reported better than expected fourth quarter results and forecast better than expected Q1 earnings. Office supplies retailer Office Depot (ODP) and auto parts retailer AutoZone (AZO) also moved higher after reporting fourth quarter earnings that beat estimates.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, with the Dow closing above 13,000 for the first time since May of 2008. The Dow edged up 23.61 points or 0.2 percent to finish at 13,005.12, while the NASDAQ rose 20.60 points or 0.7 percent to 2,986.76 and the S&P 500 climbed 4.59 points or 0.3 percent to 1,372.18.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.