The Singapore stock market has closed lower now in two straight sessions, shedding more than 80 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 2,680-point plateau, and now investors are looking forward to a modest rebound when the market kicks off trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after many of the bourses suffered brutal losses at the end of last week. Firmer commodity prices - especially gold and oil - will provide support, along with technology, airline and financial stocks. The European markets ended sharply lower, while the U.S. bourses tracked slightly higher - and now the Asian markets are also predicted to move to the upside.
The STI finished sharply lower on Friday, thanks to heavy selling among the financials, property stocks and telecoms.
For the day, the index plunged 61.42 points or 2.24 percent to finish at 2,683.56 after trading between 2,680.14 and 2,711.04. Volume was 2.17 billion shares worth 1.99 billion Singapore dollars. There were 510 decliners and 93 gainers.
Among the decliners, DBS Group shed 1.1 percent, while United Overseas Bank lost 2.2 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp fell 1.9 percent, CapitaLand was down 3.2 percent, City Development declined 2.4 percent and Singapore Telecom was off 2.7 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as stocks were able to advance by modest margins on Friday after a significantly volatile session. The major averages closed in positive territory after spending most of the day in the red.
Stocks plunged in the early afternoon on concerns about the labor market, but the major averages staged a strong recovery amid speculation the European Union would concoct a solution to Greece's debt problems.
The recovery was also spurred by a report from the Federal Reserve showing that the contraction in consumer credit markets slowed by much more than expected. Consumer credit fell by $1.73 billion in December after a revised $21.8 billion decline in November. Economists had been expecting credit to decrease by a much more substantial $10.0 billion compared to the $17.5 billion decrease originally reported for the previous month.
Stocks saw some weakness after the Labor Department reported that non-farm payroll employment declined by 20,000 jobs in January following a revised decrease of 150,000 jobs in December. Economists had forecast employment to edge up by 15,000 jobs compared to the loss of 85,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department report also said that the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7 percent in January from 10.0 percent in December. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 10.0 percent.
Trucking company Con-way Inc. (CNW) reported a fourth quarter loss that narrowed from last year and saw revenues that came in ahead of Street estimates.
Meat products producer Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) recorded a first-quarter profit and revenues that topped expectations, while Aetna (AET) failed to meet fourth-quarter profit forecasts amid growing medical costs but beat projections on the revenue front.
The Dow gained 10.05 points or 0.1 percent to end at 10,012.23, the NASDAQ advanced by 15.69 points or 0.7 percent to 2,141.12 and the S&P 500 rose by 3.08 points or 0.3 percent to 1,066.19. Despite the recovery, the major averages fell for a fourth straight week due largely to the sell-off seen on Thursday. The Dow slipped by 0.5 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 declined by 0.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
In economic news, Singapore will on Monday release its purchasing managers' index for electronics for January. Analysts are expecting the index to show a score of 53.5, up from 52.9 in December.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.