The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, dropping more than a dozen points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,046-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft as there appears to be no end in sight for the U.S. government shutdown. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The STI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the industrials and properties were offset by support from the financial shares.
For the day, the index slid 4.58 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 3,046.04 after trading between 3,028.25 and 3,070.09. Volume was 1.31 billion shares worth 1.27 billion Singapore dollars. There were 235 decliners and 147 gainers.
Among the actives, Golden Agri-Resources plummeted 4.08 percent, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding surged 2.48 percent, Singapore Technologies soared 2.33 percent, Hutchison Port Holdings tumbled 1.92 percent, Wilmar International spiked 1.72 percent, CapitaLand skidded 1.59 percent, Comfort DelGro jumped 1.40 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 1.18 percent, Keppel Corp shed 0.68 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust lost 0.56 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.51 percent, Ascendas REIT fell 0.38 percent, City Developments eased 0.37 percent, DBS Group added 0.21 percent, United Overseas Bank collected 0.16 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation was down 0.09 percent and SingTel and Thai Beverage were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks moved sharply lower on Friday ahead of a government shutdown that now seems likely to last at least through Christmas.
The Dow shed 414.23 points or 1.81 percent to 22,445.37, while the NASDAQ plummeted 195.41 points or 2.99 percent to 6,332.99 and the S&P 500 fell 50.80 points or 2.06 percent to 2,416.62. For the week, the NASDAQ nosedived 8.4 percent, the S&P lost 7.1 percent and the Dow fell 6.9 percent.
The extended sell-off on Wall Street came as traders kept an eye on developments on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers at an impasse over funding for President Donald Trump's controversial wall on the border with Mexico.
Traders largely shrugged off mixed economic data on durable goods orders, third quarter GDP, personal income and spending and consumer sentiment.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Friday, extending losses from previous session amid concerns over excess supply in the market. Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.29 or 0.6 percent at $45.59 a barrel, the lowest settlement since July 2017.
Closer to home, Singapore will on Monday release November numbers for consumer prices later today. Inflation is expected to add 0.1 percent on month and 0.8 percent on year after falling 0.3 percent on month and rising 0.5 percent on year in October.
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