Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has tracked to the upside in consecutive trading days, gathering almost a dozen points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index finished just above the 3,450-point plateau, although the market may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, thanks to hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. The European and U.S. markets ended slightly lower, and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The STI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the plantation stocks and properties were capped by weakness from the financial shares.

For the day, the index collected 10.32 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 3,450.18 after trading between 3,446.18 and 3,457.42.

Among the actives, Keppel Corp climbed 0.91 percent, while City Developments jumped 0.97 percent, Hongkong Land advanced 2.54 percent, Golden Agri-Resources spiked 2.35 percent, Genting Singapore gained 1.08 percent, DBS Group dipped 0.29 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.37 percent and SingTel was up 0.47 percent,

The lead from Wall Street is slightly negative as stocks moved lower on Friday, handing back some of the gains from earlier in the week.

Speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in Providence, R.I., Yellen said the central bank will likely raise interest rates this year, as long as economic activity picks up. She added that transitory factors were mostly to blame for first quarter weakness.

The S&P 500 was down 4.76 points or 0.2 percent to 2,126.06 but gained 0.2 percent for the week. The Dow dipped 0.3 percent or 53.72 points to 18,232.02 for a 0.2 percent weekly loss. The NASDAQ eased 1.43 points to 5,089.36, but added 0.8 percent for the week.

The choppy trading also followed the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation, which rose in line with estimates, although core prices rose by more than expected.

The U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, and will re-open on Tuesday.

Closer to home, Singapore will provide April numbers for consumer prices later today; in March, inflation was up 0.2 percent on month and down 0.3 percent on year.