The Singapore stock market has climbed higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 50 points or 1.4 percent in its way to a 10-year closing high. The Straits Times Index now rests just shy of the 3,570-point plateau and it's called higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to optimism that the U.S. government shutdown will end soon, plus a mild bump in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. markets higher - and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the properties and plantations were tempered by weakness from the industrials and a mixed bag from the financial sector.
For the day, the index climbed 19.07 points or 0.54 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,569.43 after trading as low as 3,541.98. Volume was 1.84 billion shares worth 1.39 billion Singapore dollars. There were 247 gainers and 177 decliners.
Among the actives, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plummeted 2.44 percent, while Comfort DelGro spiked 1.45 percent, Hutchison port Holdings tumbled 1.20 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust jumped 1.04 percent, Ascendas REIT climbed 0.72 percent, Wilmar International added 0.63 percent, SingTel gained 0.56 percent, Keppel Corp perked 0.48 percent, DBS Group collected 0.42 percent, United Overseas Bank shed 0.32 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 0.30 percent, SembCorp Industries fell 0.29 percent and Golden Agri-Resources, Thai Beverage, CapitaLand Mall Trust, City Developments and Genting Singapore all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks moved mostly higher on Monday, extending last week's strong upward move and lifting the major averages to new record closing highs.
The Dow added 142.88 points or 0.55 percent to 26,214.60, while the NASDAQ jumped 71.65 points or 0.98 percent to 7,408.03 and the S&P 500 gained 22.67 points or 0.81 percent to 2,832.97.
Traders had little response to the government shutdown but saw further upside amid signs it will soon be resolved. Both sides blamed each other for the government shutdown, which marks the first official shutdown since October of 2013.
Crude oil prices inched higher Monday after a top Saudi official said that OPEC should extend its supply quota plan beyond this year. March WTI oil climbed 26 cents or 0.4 percent to $63.57/bbl; February WTI oil gained 25 cents or 0.4 percent to $63.62/bbl.
Closer to home, Singapore will provide December figures for consumer prices later today. Inflation is called higher by 0.2 percent on month and 0.6 percent on year following the 0.6 percent monthly and annual increase in November.
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