The Singapore stock market on Tuesday halted the modest two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 30 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index finished just above the 2,950-point plateau, and now analysts are predicting a flat performance at the opening of trade on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets provides little clarity as investors are reluctant to take long positions ahead of key U.S. employment data at the end of the week. Airline stocks are expected to be higher, as are gold, steel and financial shares - while technology and oil companies may see selling pressure. The European and U.S. markets finished mixed but little changed, and the Asian bourses are expected to follow the same path.
The STI finished slightly lower on Tuesday, pushed into negative territory by weakness from the financial shares and a mixed performance from the property stocks.
For the day, the index eased 6.73 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,950.33 after trading between 2,921.45 and 2,950.33. Volume was 1.67 billion shares, with 329 decliners and 149 gainers.
Among the decliners, United Overseas Bank fell 0.85 percent, while City Developments plunged 4.5 percent, CapitaLand shed 1.8 percent and Olam International declined 1.84 percent.
Wilmar International was unchanged, while Golden Agri-Resources collected 0.9 percent, CapitaMall Trust added 1.6 percent and CapitaMalls Asia gained 1.0 percent.
Wall Street offers no guidance as stocks turned in a lackluster performance to close out the month of August on Tuesday, with the lack of any substantive clues regarding the direction of the economy from the Federal Reserve contributing to the choppy trading on the day. The major averages gave up earlier upside and turned mixed following the report, lingering near the flat line for the remainder of the session.
The minutes from the August Fed meeting revealed that a number of Fed policy makers called for further stimulus should the economy show additional weakness but offered no additional insight into the direction of the economy. The meeting culminated in the Fed announcing it would reinvest earnings from mortgage-backed securities into government backed bonds.
Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the first half of the day after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 53.5 in August from an upwardly revised 51.0 in July. The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to edge down to a reading of 50.0 from the 50.4 originally reported for the previous month.
Also on the economic front this morning, the ISM - Chicago said regional business activity slowed down in August but still expanded for the eleventh consecutive month. In a separate report, Standard & Poor's reading on home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas increased by more than expected in June, although the number was likely artificially boosted by the homebuyer tax credit.
In corporate news, Dollar General Corp. (DG) lifted its 2010 guidance following a strong second quarter profit. Meanwhile, sales missed estimates.
Meanwhile, agricultural products giant Monsanto Co. (MON) said it expects ongoing earnings for fiscal year 2010 at the low end of its previous guidance range of $2.40 to $2.60 per share. Farm machine maker Deere & Co. (DE) also announced an agreement to sell its wind energy business to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (EXC) for $900 million.
While the NASDAQ slipped 5.94 points or 0.3 percent to 2,114.03, the Dow edged up 4.99 points or less than 0.1 percent to 10,014.72 and the S&P 500 rose 0.41 points or less than 0.1 percent to 1,049.33.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.