Continued Strength Anticipated For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, soaring more than 170 points or 5.3 percent along the way. Now at a fresh 30-month closing high, the Straits Times Index sits just above the 3,420-point plateau and it's predicted to open higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on earnings optimism and support from oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The STI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index advanced 18.30 points or 0.54 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,420.04 after moving as low as 3,394.03. Volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 1.4 billion Singapore dollars. There were 324 gainers and 179 decliners.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT surged 2.86 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust fell 0.48 percent, City Developments spiked 1.24 percent, Dairy Farm International soared 1.39 percent, DBS Group jumped 1.09 percent, Genting Singapore rallied 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land added 0.54 percent, Keppel Corp gained 0.50 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust advanced 0.55 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust accelerated 1.16 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation climbed 0.69 percent, SATS lost 0.74 percent, SembCorp Industries rose 0.41 percent, Singapore Airlines eased 0.19 percent, Singapore Press Holdings slumped 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering perked 0.26 percent, Thai Beverage sank 0.75 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.46 percent, Wilmar International was up 0.23 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Exchange, SingTel and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher and remained that way throughout the session.

The Dow spiked 305.28 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 35,768.06, while the NASDAQ surged 295.92 points or 2.08 percent to end at 14,490.37 and the S&P 500 gained 65.64 points or 1.45 percent to close at 4,587.18.

The rally on Wall Street came as stocks continued to recover from the sharp pullback in January, with the Dow reaching its best levels in almost a month. The major averages remain well off the record highs but have climbed well off the multi-month lows set in late January.

Upbeat earnings also contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street, led by such companies as Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), cannabis producer Canopy Growth (CGC) and solar energy company Enphase Energy (ENPH), while CVS Health (CVS) disappointed.

Crude oil prices moved higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.30 or 0.3 percent at $89.66 a barrel.