The Singapore stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after it had halted the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 50 points or 1.5 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,515-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity amid a lack of catalysts, although a drop in crude oil prices should limit any upside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and flat, and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financials and industrials, while the plantations and properties were mixed.
For the day, the index sank 15.69 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 3,513.23 after trading between 3,511.88 and 3,532.36. Volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 1.03 billion Singapore dollars. There were 219 decliners and 159 gainers.
Among the actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 9.26 percent, while Golden Agri-Resources plunged 1.61 percent, Genting Singapore tumbled 1.55 percent, Hutchison Port Holdings spiked 1.54 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 1.28 percent, Comfort DelGro dropped 0.82 percent, Wilmar International advanced 0.62 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust gained 0.59 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.54 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust added 0.48 percent, SingTel fell 0.30 percent, CapitaLand eased 0.28 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.15 percent and Singapore Airlines, SembCorp Industries and Ascendas REIT were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is flat to lower as stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Friday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing mixed.
The Dow shed 58.67 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 24,753.09, the NASDAQ added 9.42 points or 0.13 percent to 7,433.85, and the S&P fell 6.43 points or 0.24 percent to 2,721.33. For the week, the NASDAQ jumped 1.1 percent, the Dow added 0.2 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.
The choppy trading came as traders were away from their desks ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend. Geopolitical uncertainty also kept some traders on the sidelines after President Donald Trump's decision to call off the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a bigger than expected decrease in durable goods orders in April. Also, the University of Michigan unexpectedly saw a drop in consumer sentiment in May.
Energy stocks saw substantial weakness amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil. Crude for July delivery plummeted $2.83 to $67.88 a barrel following reports oil producing nations are considering easing production limits.
Closer to home, Singapore will see April numbers for producer prices later today; in March, producer prices were up 1.4 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.