The Singapore stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 0.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,110-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on omicron coronavirus concerns and sinking oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the industrials and properties, while the financials came in mixed.
For the day, the index lost 17.17 points or 0.55 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,111.63 after peaking at 3,134.99. Volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 1.5 billion Singapore dollars. There were 280 decliners and 188 gainers.
Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Mapletree Commercial Trust both slumped 0.50 percent, while City Developments tanked 1.45 percent, Comfort DelGro lost 0.72 percent, Dairy Farm International slid 0.36 percent, DBS Group collected 0.34 percent, Genting Singapore fell 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 2.07 percent, Keppel Corp and Venture Corporation both sank 0.97 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust weakened 0.53 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation eased 0.09 percent, SATS skidded 1.03 percent, SembCorp Industries plunged 1.49 percent, Singapore Airlines dropped 0.81 percent, Singapore Exchange tumbled 1.39 percent, Singapore Press Holdings added 0.43 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering retreated 1.06 percent, SingTel stumbled 0.63 percent, Thai Beverage shed 0.75 percent, United Overseas Bank dipped 0.30 percent, Wilmar International declined 1.21 percent and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Ascendas REIT were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on a volatile Friday. The NASDAQ peeked briefly into the green but the markets all still finished in the red.
The Dow plunged 532.16 points or 1.48 percent to finish at 35,365.44, while the NASDAQ dipped 10.72 points or 0.07 percent to close at 15,169.68 and the S&P 500 sank 48.03 points or 1.03 percent to end at 4,620.64. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.9 percent, the Dow lost 1.7 percent and the S&P was down 1.9 percent.
The volatility on Wall Street came on a quadruple witching day, with stock options, index options, stock futures and index futures all expiring.
Concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus also weighed on the markets along with worries about ongoing supply chain issues.
Crude oil prices tumbled Friday on concerns for energy demand due to a rapid surge in Omicron variant of the coronavirus and reimposition of restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $1.52 or 2.1 percent at $70.86 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 1.1 percent in the week.