The Singapore stock market has experienced declines in two out of three trading days since its impressive seven-day surge, which saw it gain over 140 points or approximately 3.9 percent. Consequently, the Straits Times Index is now positioned just above the 3,620-point mark and is expected to face further challenges on Monday.
The global economic forecast for Asian markets appears weak, with profit-taking likely to dominate, following last week's strong performance. European markets ended lower, while U.S. exchanges were mixed and showed little change, suggesting Asian markets might find a middle ground.
On Friday, the STI closed modestly down, affected by losses in real estate and trusts sectors, gains in the banking sector, and mixed results from industrials. The index dropped 8.42 points, or 0.23 percent, to end at 3,624.76, fluctuating between a low of 3,613.76 and a high of 3,636.21 throughout the trading session.
In terms of individual performances, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell by 2.78 percent, CapitaLand Investment plummeted 3.93 percent, City Developments decreased 3.08 percent, while Comfort DelGro edged up by 0.67 percent. DBS Group rose 1.30 percent, Emperador gained 1.16 percent, Genting Singapore slipped 0.58 percent, and Hongkong Land declined 1.08 percent. Keppel DC REIT dropped 3.54 percent, Keppel Ltd eased by 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust fell 3.97 percent, and Mapletree Industrial Trust decreased 3.92 percent. Mapletree Logistics Trust went down by 2.04 percent. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was up by 0.06 percent, SATS gained 0.27 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell by 1.47 percent, SingTel went up by 0.59 percent, Wilmar International slumped 1.26 percent, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding saw a slight increase of 0.37 percent. Seatrium Limited, SembCorp Industries, Yangzijiang Financial, and Thai Beverage remained unchanged.
Wall Street's performance on Friday provides limited direction, as the major indexes opened lower and remained subdued throughout the session, with the Dow barely finishing in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 38.16 points or 0.09 percent to close at a record 42,063.36. In contrast, the NASDAQ decreased by 65.68 points or 0.36 percent to 17,948.32, and the S&P 500 declined 11.09 points or 0.19 percent to 5,702.55.
For the week, the Dow increased by 1.6 percent, the NASDAQ by 1.5 percent, and the S&P 500 by 1.4 percent. The initial weakness on Wall Street was partly due to profit-taking after Thursday's significant rally, spurred by a favorable response to the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by half a percentage point. However, as the session progressed, selling pressure diminished, with traders hesitant to make substantial moves, pondering the next market catalyst following the Fed’s rate cut.
Oil futures ended slightly lower on Friday, mainly due to profit-taking after solid gains the previous week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October settled at $71.92 a barrel, down $0.03.