The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 25 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,575-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.
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 open in similar fashion.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the industrials were mixed.
For the day, the index slid 11.53 points or 0.32 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,573.76 after peaking at 3,603.50.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.48 percent, while CapitaLand Investment gained 0.33 percent, City Developments sank 0.38 percent, DBS Group eased 0.13 percent, Hongkong Land plunged 2.97 percent, Keppel DC REIT improved 0.90 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust slumped 0.69 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust tumbled 1.21 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.27 percent, SATS plummeted 4.22 percent, Seatrium Limited added 0.50 percent, SembCorp Industries advanced 0.92 percent, SingTel shed 0.32 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.20 percent, Yangzijiang Financial tanked 2.44 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was up 0.81 percent and Emperador, Genting Singapore, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Comfort DelGro, Thai Beverage, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but quickly moved to the upside and remained that way, ending near session highs.
The Dow rallied 409.76 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,863.86, while the NASDAQ added 60.94 points or 0.33 percent to close at 18,342.94 and the S&P 500 rose 34.98 points or 0.61 percent to end at 5,815.03. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P both gained 1.1 percent.
The strength on Wall Street partly a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September.
The data reinforced optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months, although hopes for another 50-basis point cut next month have largely evaporated.
On the corporate front, companies like Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) surged on strong quarterly results, while Tesla (TSLA) tumbled after unveiling its robotaxi.
Crude oil prices saw a modest pullback on Friday after surging in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.29 or 0.4 percent to $75.56 a barrel. Despite the pullback on the day, the price of crude oil jumped by 1.6 percent for the week.
Closer to home, Singapore will see preliminary Q3 data for gross domestic product later this morning; in the three month prior, GDP was up 1.6 percent on quarter and 2.9 percent on year.