The Singapore stock market has ticked lower in two straight sessions, although it has given up just 3 points 0.1 percent in that span. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,020-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising treasury yields and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished barely lower on Thursday following losses from the properties, gains from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financial shares.
For the day, the index eased 0.10 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 3,022.70 after trading between 3,005.85 and 3,029.07. Volume was with 1.6 billion shares worth 1.1 billion Singapore dollars. There were 266 gainers and 257 decliners.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.39 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.55 percent, CapitaLand Investment jumped 1.89 percent, City Developments advanced 0.81 percent, DBS Group sank 0.49 percent, Emperador slumped 1.02 percent, Genting Singapore spiked 1.94 percent, Hongkong Land climbed 1.40 percent, Keppel Corp was up 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust soared 3.12 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust added 0.68 percent, SATS rose 0.37 percent, SembCorp Industries rallied 1.42 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tumbled 1.84 percent, Thai Beverage skidded 0.87 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.42 percent, Wilmar International gained 0.56 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 6.14 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Mapletree Industrial Trust, SingTel and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to hold early gains, heading south by midday and finishing at daily lows.
The Dow slumped 90.22 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 30,333.59, while the NASDAQ shed 65.66 points or 0.61 percent to end at 10,614.84 and the S&P 500 lost 29.38 points or 0.80 percent to close at 3,665.78.
Stocks initially benefited from another batch of upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like IBM Corp. (IBM) and AT&T (T).
Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, with a continued surge in treasury yields contributing to the subsequent pullback by the markets. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note extended recent gains, reaching its highest levels in over fourteen years.
Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to drive yields higher, with Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker saying that he expects the Fed to continue raising rates "for a while."
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points in early November, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75 to 4.0 percent.
Crude oil futures for November delivery settled higher on their expiration day as traders weighed energy demand and supply positions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.43 or 0.5 percent at $85.98 a barrel on the expiration day. But WTI Crude oil futures for December eased to $84.51 a barrel.