The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in consecutive trading days, collecting more than 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,190-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid a lack of catalysts, while concerns over the outlook for interest rates continue to persist. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index climbed 32.97 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 3,187.66 after trading between 3,160.22 and 3,197.20.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.54 percent, while CapitaLand Investment stumbled 1.20 percent, City Developments gained 0.53 percent, Comfort DelGro advanced 0.69 percent, DBS Group accelerated 1.33 percent, Emperador strengthened 1.14 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 2.20 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 1.06 percent, Keppel Ltd jumped 1.89 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust dropped 0.82 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust slumped 0.89 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tumbled 2.19 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.03 percent, SATS sank 0.81 percent, Seatrium Limited retreated 1.30 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 3.27 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering rallied 1.80 percent, SingTel increased 0.86 percent, Thai Beverage improved 1.05 percent, Wilmar International rose 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial soared 3.13 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Venture Corporation both shed 0.56 percent and Keppel DC REIT and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street remains weak as the major averages were unable to hold early gains on Thursday, finished mixed with a downside bias.
The Dow rose 22.07 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 37,775.38, while the NASDAQ slumped 81.87 points or 0.52 percent to close at 15,601.50 and the S&P 500 sank 11.09 points or 0.22 percent to end at 5,011.12.
The early strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness. However, buying interest waned over the course of the session amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
Adding to interest rate worries, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve released a report showing a considerable acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in April.
Also, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a sharp pullback by existing home sales in the U.S. last month.
Oil futures settled roughly flat on Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand and on recent data showing a jump in crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled at $82.73 a barrel, up $0.04 from the previous close.