Singapore bourse finishes lower

SINGAPORE, Jan 3 (RTT News): The Singapore stock market has finished lower now in consecutive trading days, although it has fallen less than 3 points in that span. The Straits Times Index remained just above the 3,365-point plateau, and now the market may see continued if mild weakness on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft, with a heavy dose of volatility in what is expected to be light trade following the New Year's holiday. Weak economic data from the United States adds to the negative sentiment. The European markets were mixed on last Wednesday and the US bourses were down, and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The STI finished barely lower on last Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and plantations.
For the day, the index eased 0.96 points or 0.03 per cent to finish at 3,365.15 after trading between 3,364.64 and 3,373.08. Volume was 587.7 million shares worth 514.0 million Singapore dollars.
Among the actives, City Developments shed 0.77 per cent, while CapitaLand jumped 1.22 per cent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.38 per cent, Olam International tumbled 2.88 per cent, Wilmar International fell 0.31 per cent, SembCorp added 0.45 per cent, SingTel dipped 0.51 per cent and Noble Group advanced 0.88 per cent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks turned lower on Wednesday. While the pullback was exaggerated by light volume, the major averages showed a steep drop after opening higher.