The Singapore stock market has fallen lower in back-to-back sessions, sliding almost 70 points or 2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,545-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm thanks to solid employment data from the United States and a bump in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financials, properties and industrials.
For the day, the index dropped 30.30 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 3,545.38 after trading between 3,533.18 and 3,575.50. Volume was 2 billion shares worth 1.2 billion Singapore dollars. There were 258 decliners and 158 gainers.
Among the actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 2.46 percent, while United Overseas Bank plunged 1.72 percent, DBS Group tumbled 1.64 percent, Hutchison Port Holdings skidded 1.45 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 1.19 percent, Venture Corporation retreated 0.76 percent, SembCorp Industries declined 0.65 percent, Wilmar International advanced 0.63 percent, SingTel fell 0.57 percent, CapitaLand shed 0.53 percent and Comfort DelGro, Golden Agri-Resources, CapitaLand Commercial Trust, Ascendas REIT, CapitaLand Mall Trust and Genting Singapore all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks rebounded from a soft start Friday to finish sharply higher.
The Dow added 332.36 points or 1.39 percent to 24,262.51, while the NASDAQ soared 121.47 points or 1.71 percent to 7,209.62 and the S&P gained 33.69 points or 1.28 percent to 2,663.42. For the week, the NASDAQ gained 1.3 percent, but the Dow and S&P both eased 0.2 percent.
The rally reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report. While the report showed weaker than expected job growth in April, the jobless rate fell to its lowest level in 17 years.
Crude oil futures jumped to their highest since November 2014, picking up 2.4 percent for the week. Despite the U.S. shale boom, oil prices are rising amid speculation that Venezuela's oil industry is collapsing. June WTI oil settled at $69.72/bbl, up $1.29 or 1.9 percent.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.