(RTTNews) – The Singapore stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 35 points or 0.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,740-point plateau although it may hand those gains right back on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on profit taking and rising oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference on Monday.
The STI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financials and properties were offset by weakness among the retailers and trusts.
For the day, the index added 23.54 points or 0.41 percent to finish at the daily high of 5,743.59 after trading as low as 5,668.02.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but quickly tailed off and fell under water for the balance of the day.
The Dow sank 107.59 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 53,732.41, while the NASDAQ shed 73.84 points or 0.28 percent to end at 26,729.16 and the S&P 500 dipped 13.23 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,785.23.
For the week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ crept up 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent.
The modest pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking following the upward move seen in the two previous sessions, which lifted the S&P 500 to a record intraday high above 7,800. Also, the tech-heavy NASDAQ reached its highest closing level in over two months.
In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in August. Also, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales in July.
Crude oil prices surged on Friday as the U.S. and Iran continue to spar on their demands, leaving the Strait of Hormuz shut for shipping traffic. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.05 or 1.29 percent at $82.30 per barrel.
Closer to home, Singapore will release July numbers for non-oil domestic exports later this morning; in June, NODX fell 8.9 percent on month but gained 20.7 percent on year, resulting in a trade surplus of SGD13.817 billion.
