The Singapore stock market on Friday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 20 points or 0.6. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,220-point plateau and it is looking at little movement on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher thanks to encouraging economic data and a bounce in the price of crude oil. Despite being overbought, the European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financials and industrials were mitigated by support from the property sector.
For the day, the index sank 14.95 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 3,219.42 after trading between 3,217.67 and 3,233.05. Volume was 1.8 billion shares worth 995 million Singapore dollars.
Among the actives, DBS Group shed 1.1 percent, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.4 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 1.1 percent, City Developments advanced 1 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 1.3 percent, SembCorp Marine skidded 1.2 percent and Keppel Corp tumbled 1.1 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as stocks showed a lack of direction on Friday amidst uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent volatility.
The Dow shed 2.67 points or 0.1 percent to 21,080.28, while the NASDAQ added 4.94 points or 0.1 percent to 6,210.19 and the S&P gained 0.75 points or 0.1 percent to 2,415.82. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.1 percent, while the Dow jumped 1.3 percent and the S&P gained 1.4 percent.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said that the U.S. economy grew more than estimated in Q1. Also, new orders for manufactured durable goods pulled back less than expected in April.
Crude oil futures rose Friday, as data showed the pace of increases in the U.S. rig count fell. July WTI oil climbs 90 cents or 1.8 percent to $49.80/bbl but lost 1.7 percent for the week.
Closer to home, Singapore will release April figures for producer prices later today. Producer prices were down 0.8 percent on month and up 3.8 percent on year in March.
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