The Singapore stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,140-point plateau and it's in line for further damage on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to trade concerns and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The STI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and industrial issues, while the property stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index fell 20.02 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 3,141.40 after trading between 3,133.37 and 3,150.83. Volume was 1.83 billion shares worth 712.2 million Singapore dollars. There were 243 decliners and 145 gainers.
Among the actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 2.68 percent, while Thai Beverage surged 2.36 percent, Genting Singapore plunged 1.92 percent, Keppel Corp tumbled 1.37 percent, United Overseas Bank skidded 1.33 percent, SingTel dropped 1.27 percent, Wilmar International retreated 1.26 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation declined 1.07 percent, SembCorp Industries slid 1.04 percent, CapitaLand shed 0.91 percent, Ascendas REIT advanced 0.78 percent, CapitaLand Mall Trust added 0.47 percent, Comfort DelGro gained 0.43 percent, DBS Group lost 0.24 percent and Hutchison Port Holdings and Golden Agri-Resources were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved mostly lower on Monday, giving back ground after finishing higher last week.
The Dow shed 92.55 points or 0.35 percent to 26,062.12, while the NASDAQ plunged 114.25 points or 1.43 percent to 7,895.79 and the S&P 500 fell 16.18 points or 0.56 percent to 2,888.80.
Lingering trade concerns weighed on the markets throughout the day, with stocks seeing further downside after President Donald Trump said an announcement on trade with China would be made after the close of trading.
In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve noted a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in September.
Crude oil prices retreated to close lower on Monday, after trending higher early on in the session. Crude oil futures for October delivery ended down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $68.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Closer to home, Singapore will see July figures for retail sales later today; in June, sales were up 1.2 percent on month and 2.0 percent on year.
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