The Singapore stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Straits Times Index finished just below the 2,975-point plateau, and now traders are expecting a mild recovery when the market kicks off trade on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive following upbeat commentary from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke - who noted that the U.S. unemployment rate has declined faster than the Fed predicted. Capping the upside, a report from the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected drop in pending home sales in February. The European and U.S. markets finished firmly higher, and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the property sector.
For the day, the index shed 15.58 points or 0.52 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,974.50 after peaking at 2,994.93 on volume of 1,461 million shares. There were 206 decliners and 148 gainers.
Among the decliners, Genting Singapore City Developments and CapitaLand all finished lower.
The lead from Wall Street is firmly upbeat as stocks moved sharply higher on Monday following encouraging remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The rally followed a mixed performance last week.
The strong upward move followed a speech by Bernanke, who noted that the U.S. unemployment rate has declined faster than the Fed predicted but cautioned that the jobs market remains far from normal.
While the Fed chief warned that cyclical problems could turn into structural weakness in the U.S. jobs market without a more robust recovery, he assured that the Fed's zero-interest rate policy and other support measures will help reduce unemployment over time by promoting economic growth.
Traders largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Realtors showing an unexpected drop in pending home sales in February. NAR said its pending home sales index fell by 0.5 percent to 96.5 in February after rising by 2.0 percent to 97.0 in January. Economists had expected an increase by 1.0 percent after it had reached its highest level since April 2010.
Among individual stocks, shares of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) jumped 4.5 percent after the company's latest movie "The Hunger Games" topped the box office with $155 million in its opening weekend, a record for a March release.
The major averages closed firmly in positive territory, at or near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 160.90 points or 1.2 percent to finish at 13,241.63, while the NASDAQ soared 54.65 points or 1.8 percent to end at 3,122.57 and the S&P 500 surged 19.40 points or 1.4 percent to 1,416.51. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 hit fresh multi-year closing highs, while the Dow closed just shy of the four-year closing high it set earlier this month.
On the economic front, Singapore's industrial production grew less than expected in February, reflecting a decline in electronics output, the Economic Development Board said on Monday.
Industrial output rose 12.1 percent in February from a year ago, compared to a decline of 9.6 percent in January. The expected rate of growth for February was 18.4 percent. Month-on-month, production fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent, while economists were expecting a 4.1 percent rise.
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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.