The Singapore stock market headed south again on Thursday, one session after it had snapped the five-day slide in which it had surrendered almost 140 points or 4.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,300-point plateau and it's in line for continued consolidation again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the OPEC meeting later today in Vienna. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the plantations, properties and industrials, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index fell 15.90 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 3,300.00 after trading between 3,299.05 and 3,326.59. Volume was 1.86 billion shares worth 1.02 billion Singapore dollars. There were 250 decliners and 147 gainers.
Among the actives, StarHub plummeted 4.73 percent, while Golden Agri-Resources plunged 4.55 percent, Comfort DelGro tumbled 4.29 percent, Hutchison Port Holdings skidded 3.39 percent, Thai Beverage dropped 3.14 percent, CapitaLand declined 2.40 percent, SembCorp Industries retreated 2.15 percent, Wilmar International shed 1.60 percent, United Overseas Bank lost 0.71 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding added 0.53 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Company slid 0.42 percent, SingTel fell 0.32 percent, DBS Group collected 0.07 percent and Ascendas REIT and Genting Singapore were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved mostly lower on Thursday as the Dow extended its losing streak to eight sessions.
The Dow fell 196.10 points or 0.80 percent to 24,461.70, the NASDAQ slid 68.56 points or 0.88 percent to 7,712.95 and the S&P 500 dropped 17.56 points or 0.63 percent to 2,749.76.
The weakness on Wall Street was due uncertainty about the outcome of the OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia and Russia are pushing for an increase in oil production, and OPEC is expected to announce its decision at the conclusion of the gathering.
Crude oil futures were steady Thursday ahead of the OPEC meeting. A stronger dollar also kept oil prices in check as August WTI oil was down 17 cents or 0.3 percent to settle at $65.54/bbl.
In economic news, the Conference Board reported a smaller than expected increase in its leading economic index, while the Philadelphia Federal Reserve noted a bigger than expected slowdown in regional manufacturing activity in June.
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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.