The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,225-point plateau, although it's expected to run out of steam on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on inflation and interest rate concerns. 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 modestly higher on Tuesday following mixed performance from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index improved 8.70 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 3,224.18 after trading between 3,217.17 and 3,234.45. Volume was 1.85 billion shares worth 957.2 million Singapore dollars. There were 247 decliners and 240 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT lost 0.35 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust rallied 0.98 percent, City Developments gained 0.24 percent, DBS Group fell 0.31 percent, Genting Singapore slumped 0.65 percent, Hongkong Land was down 0.21 percent, Keppel Corp and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust both advanced 0.54 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust added 0.39 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust climbed 0.59 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.17 percent, SATS jumped 1.25 percent, SembCorp Industries surged 4.50 percent, SingTel spiked 1.52 percent, Thai Beverage soared 1.60 percent, United Overseas Bank dipped 0.22 percent, Wilmar International slid 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shed 0.54 percent and Yangzijiang Financial, Singapore Exchange, Singapore Technologies Engineering, CapitaLand Investment and Comfort DelGro were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages quickly moved lower on Tuesday, rebounded midday but then faced renewed consolidation that lasted throughout the rest of the session.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent weakness.
The volatility on the day also came amid a surge in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumping to its highest levels in almost three months.
Potentially adding to the worries about interest rates, the Institute for Supply Management said service sector activity in the U.S. unexpectedly grew at a slightly faster rate in August. The report is a positive sign for the economy but may have led to concerns the Federal Reserve will see the data as an indication that it can continue to aggressively raise interest rates.
Oil futures settled barely higher on Tuesday after the decision by OPEC+ to cut output by 100,000 barrels per day in October, although the dollar's uptick limited oil's upside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by a penny or $0.09% at $86.88 a barrel.