(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market on Friday halted the three-day losing streak that had cost the market more than 30 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index moved back above the 2,710-point plateau, but now analysts are forecasting renewed selling pressure at the opening of trade on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is modestly negative, thanks to a retreat in the price of commodities. Oil stocks could fall under pressure, while the financials and technology stocks also may be weak. The European and U.S. markets finished lower on Friday, and now the Asian markets are also tipped to move to the downside.

The STI finished sharply higher on Friday on bargain hunting following the recent slide. Financials led the rally, while the airlines and telecoms also ended higher.

For the day, the index gained 33.37 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 2,715.34 after trading between 2,698.55 and 2,719.33. Volume was 1.56 billion shares worth 1.45 billion Singapore dollars. There were 345 gainers and 157 decliners, with 837 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the gainers, DBS Group Holdings, United Overseas Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Singapore Airlines and Singapore Telecommunications all finished higher.

Wall Street offers a downbeat lead as stocks declined by sizable margins on Friday, despite a number of upbeat corporate earnings releases and positive indicators on the health of the housing market. An increase in the value of the U.S. dollar may have generated some of the selling pressure.

The weakness in the markets came despite the release of some positive earnings news, with cautious remarks from some companies offsetting the upbeat sentiment generated by the release of better than expected results from companies like Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN). Stocks finished the day lower even though American Express (AXP), Honeywell (HON), Whirlpool (WHR), and Broadcom (BRCM) largely beat estimates.

In economic news, existing home sales increased by much more than expected in the month of September, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors, with first-time home buyers driving sales up to their highest level in over two years. Existing home sales jumped 9.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a 5.10 million unit rate in August. Economists had been expecting a more modest increase to a 5.35 million unit rate.

Additionally, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said this morning that policymakers must now take action to implement programs that will limit the severity of future economic crises.

While gains by Microsoft and Amazon limited the downside for the NASDAQ, the major averages all closed firmly in negative territory. The Dow closed down by 109.13 points or 1.1 percent at 9,972.18, the NASDAQ fell by 10.82 points or 0.5 percent to 2,154.47 and the S&P 500 finished down by 13.31 points or 1.2 percent at 1,079.60.

With the losses on the day, the major averages all closed modestly lower for the week following two consecutive weeks of gains. The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent for the week, while the Dow and the NASDAQ posted more modest weekly losses of 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

In economic news, Singapore will on Monday announce September figures for industrial production, with analysts expecting an increase of 5 percent on year following the 12.3 percent annual expansion in August. On month, output is seen lower by a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent after the 5.6 percent decline in the previous month.

Also, Singapore consumer prices dropped 0.4 percent on a yearly basis in September mainly due to lower cost of housing, the Department of Statistics said on Friday. The decline in September was larger than the expected fall of 0.2 percent.

Compared to August, consumer prices slipped 0.1 percent in September. This marginal decline was attributed largely to lower costs of housing, clothing and footwear and transport and communication. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the consumer price index remained at the same level as that in August.