Markets continue climb, but with wary eye on economic and geopolitical developments

Investors watching for details of China's fiscal stimulus and US Q3 corporate earnings

- Ven Sreenivasan

After a strong performance during the first nine months of the year, investors appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude amid increasingly uncertain geopolitical events and as details of China's fiscal stimulus start to crystallise. Many are also watching how the US' third-quarter corporate earnings season pans out.

That said, markets have generally held up well, with Wall Street's three marquee indexes clawing their way to new record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained another 0.96 per cent through last week to close at 43,275.91 points, while the S&P 500 rose 0.85 per cent to 5,864.67 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq edged 0.8 per cent higher to 18,489.55 points.

This came as US companies announced results which largely exceeded consensus forecasts.

While large-cap US banks saw earnings grow on the back of robust economic activity, tech companies have also shown earnings expansion, driven by the accelerating tech revolution.

According to FactSet, companies in the S&P 500 index could post a blended annual earnings growth rate of 4.1 per cent during the third quarter, marking the fifth straight quarter of year-on-year earnings growth for the index.

In Singapore, the 30-stock Straits Times Index gained 1.9 per cent for the week, closing at 3,640.19, just off its week high on Friday at 3,644.18. Technical views suggest the immediate support level for the benchmark index is 3,570, just below the Sept 24 high of 3,652.42.