The Singapore stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 25 points or 0.7 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,290-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on conflicting factors in the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index gained 24.75 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 3,290.70 after trading between 3,276.79 and 3,297.37.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Investment advanced 1.17 percent, while City Developments gained 0.84 percent, Comfort DelGro gathered 0.70 percent, DBS Group collected 0.34 percent, Emperador tumbled 1.14 percent, Genting Singapore added 1.14 percent, Hongkong Land surged 2.45 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.56 percent, Keppel Ltd accelerated 1.66 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust rose 0.81 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust climbed 1.38 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust strengthened 1.48 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rallied 1.51 percent, SATS increased 1.18 percent, Seatrium Limited plummeted5.38 percent, SembCorp Industries soared 2.12 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering spiked 1.79 percent, SingTel improved 1.27 percent, Wilmar International perked 0.32 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.56 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Friday, gave ground and finished mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 39,512.84, while the NASDAQ dipped 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 16,340.87 and the S&P 500 rose 8.60 points or 0.2 percent to end at 5,222.68.
For the week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.
The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data has pointed to some softness in the U.S. labor market, increasing investor confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.
However, the early buying interest was partly offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing a sharp drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in May. The report also showed a notable increase in year-ahead inflation expectations.
Crude oil prices fell on Friday, on concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for a longer period, and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand due to signs of slowing economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.00 at $78.26 a barrel.