The losing streak has hit three sessions now for the Singapore stock market, which has fallen more than 35 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 2,900-point plateau, and the market may extend its losses on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft, thanks to a decline in the price of crude oil. The European and U.S. markets saw mild downside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the plantations and telecoms, plus a mixed performance from the financials and properties.
For the day, the index lost 9.61 points or 0.33 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,901.70 after peaking at 2,924.42. Volume was 1.4 billion shares worth 789.4 million Singapore dollars. There were 219 decliners and 168 gainers.
Among the actives, Golden Agri-Resources plunged 3.37 percent, while Thai Beverage skidded 1.73 percent, City Developments spiked 1.60 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust dropped 1.56 percent, Ascendas REIT shed 0.87 percent, SingTel fell 0.82 percent, \DBS Group collected 0.40 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dipped 0.22 percent and United Overseas Bank gave away 0.77 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is slightly negative as stocks were a bit lower on Wednesday amid subdued selling pressure. Traders were reluctant to make significant moves, and many were already away ahead of the holiday weekend.
The Dow dipped 32.66 points or 0.2 percent to 19,941.96, while the NASDAQ fell 12.51 points or 0.2 percent to 5,471.43, and the S&P slipped 5.58 points or 0.3 percent to 2,265.18.
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors noted a continued increase in existing home sales in November - boosting them to their highest annual rate since February 2007.
But crude oil futures were fell Wednesday after government data showed an unexpected build in U.S. oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures for delivery in February fell 81 cents or 1.5 percent to $52.49 a barrel.
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