The rally in the Singapore stock market may stall

Singapore's stock market has risen for three consecutive sessions, gaining more than 70 points, or 2.2%, in that time. The Straits Times index is now just below the 3,340-point bar, although it may run out of steam on Friday.

The global outlook for Asian markets is mixed to down amid profit taking and reduced optimism about the outlook for interest rates. European markets are up, and US markets are down, and Asian markets are expected to move in the latter direction.

The STI rose marginally on Thursday on the back of gains in financial and real estate stocks, while industrials showed mixed performance.

For the day, the index rose 32.46 points, or 0.98%, ending trading at 3,337.42 after fluctuating between 3,317.51 and 3,339.24.

Among active stocks, Ascends REIT added 0.35%, Capita Land Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.99%, Capita Land Investment added 1.48%, City Developments added 2.51%, DBS Group added 1.81%, Getting Singapore added 1.07%, Hong Kong Land added 0.28%, Keppel Corp added 0.43%, Maple tree Pan Asia Commercial Trust added 0.60%, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation added 1. 79%, SATS rose 0.73%, Se atrium Limited added 0.69%, SembCorp Industries strengthened 1.28%, Singapore Technologies Engineering improved 0.81%, Sing Tel gained 0.38%, Thai Beverage climbed 1.71%, Wilmar International jumped 1.59%, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slipped 0.66%, while Maple tree Industrial Trust, Maple tree Logistics Trust, Yangzijiang Financial, Comfort DelGro, Emperador and Fraser's Logistics were unchanged.

On Wall Street, things ended negatively, with the major mid-sized indexes opening Thursday higher but then edging lower to end trading in slight negative territory.

The Dow Index fell 237.40 points or 0.67% to close at 35,282.72, the NASDAQ Index fell 77.17 points or 0.55% to close at 14,050.11, and the S&P 500 Index fell 29.34 points or 0.64% to close at 4,537.41.

Wall Street's early strength partly reflected a positive reaction to good earnings news from Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms (META) and fast-food giant McDonald's (MCD).

In addition, stocks initially benefited from the release of some favourable U.S. economic data, including the Commerce Department reporting an unexpected acceleration in economic growth in the second quarter.

However, this favourable data subsequently raised some concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose on Thursday on prospects of a tightening supply market due to production cuts by OPEC and its allies. September West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped $1.31, or 1.7%, to $80.09 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will release second-quarter unemployment data today; three months earlier, the jobless rate was 1.8%.

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