The Singapore market on Monday finally ended the nightmarish eight-day losing streak in which it had given away more than 110 point or 3.9 percent while falling to a three-month closing low. The Straits Times Index finished just shy of the 3,015-point plateau, and now analysts are expecting continued support when the market kicks off trade on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed with an upward bias, although persistent concerns over the Greek debt problem may limit the upside. Property and technology stocks figure to provide support, although financials may weigh. The European markets finished lower and the U.S. bourses ended higher - and the Asian markets are generally tipped to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished slightly higher on Monday, supported by gains from the financial shares and industrials.
For the day, the index collected 8.32 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 3,013.60 after trading between 3,006.84 and 3,033.16 on volume of 964 million shares. There were 204 decliners and 194 gainers.
Among the gainers, DBS added 1.14 percent, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. collected 1.1 percent, United Overseas Bank gathered 0.6 percent, Fraser & Neave jumped 4.2 percent and SembCorp Industries was up 2.3 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is fairly upbeat as stocks moved mostly higher on Monday, rebounding from initial weakness amid easing concerns about the Greek debt crisis. Bargain hunting also contributed to the strength on Wall Street following recent weakness.
While stocks initially moved lower on news that European finance ministers delayed their decision on extending $17 billion in additional financial assistance to Greece, selling pressure waned not long after the start of trading. The markets subsequently moved to the upside over the course of the morning, as traders expressed confidence that Greece will not be allowed to default and will eventually get its money.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has called for a confidence vote on his new government to be held Tuesday as he struggles to win support for the new austerity measures required to secure the additional funds from the European Union.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street also came amid a lack of major economic news, which is a positive for the markets since most of the recent data has disappointed. Later in the week, trading could be impacted by the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, which is due on Wednesday following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement as well as remarks from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Among individual stocks, Agrium (AGU) closed up by 4.1 percent after raising its second quarter earnings from continuing operations guidance to $4.10-$4.40 per share from $3.38-$3.88 per share, citing very strong retail performance and increasing nutrient pricing.
Meanwhile, PNC Financial Services (PNC) fell by 2 percent on news that the firm has agreed to buy the U.S. retail banking operations of Royal Bank of Canada (RY) for about $3.45 billion, topping an offer from BB&T Corp. (BBT).
The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory but off their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced by 76.02 points or 0.6 percent to 12,080.38, the NASDAQ rose 13.18 points or 0.5 percent to 2,629.66 and the S&P 500 climbed 6.86 points or 0.5 percent to 1,278.36.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.