The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 50 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,220-point plateau and it\'s expected to see additional support on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The STI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index rallied 42.89 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 3,220.37 after trading between 3,191.79 and 3,229.07.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT rose 1.11 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rallied 2.59 percent, CapitaLand Investment and Hongkong Land both spiked 2.62 percent, City Developments accelerated 2.60 percent, DBS Group advanced 2.06 percent, Emperador slumped 1.14 percent, Genting Singapore strengthened 2.30 percent, Keppel DC REIT soared 3.03 percent, Keppel Ltd climbed 2.09 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust skyrocketed 5.74 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust improved 1.75 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust surged 4.26 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 1.64 percent, SATS increased 1.61 percent, Seatrium Limited gained 1.27 percent, SembCorp Industries perked 0.76 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering added 1.28 percent, SingTel was up 0.40 percent, Thai Beverage gathered 1.02 percent, Wilmar International jumped 2.35 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding sank 0.54 percent and Comfort DelGro and Yangzijiang Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened modestly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session, ending at fresh record closing highs.
The Dow rallied 269.24 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 39,781.37, while the NASDAQ added 32.43 points or 0.20 percent to close at 16,401.84 and the S&P 500 gained 16.91 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,241.53.
The early strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from positive reaction to Wednesday\'s monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve.
While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, the central bank also maintained its forecast for three interest rate cuts this year.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight drop by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales unexpectedly soared in February.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and weak gasoline demand in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May dipped $0.20 at $81.07 a barrel.