SINGAPORE – A lacklustre week ended on a lacklustre note with local shares barely raising a pulse as they limped to the finish line on Jan 12.

Wall Street’s flat performance overnight set the tone, while fresh tensions in the Middle East and data showing that China’s full-year exports fell for the first time in seven years were the clinchers for traders.

The despondency left the Straits Times Index (STI) down 9.69 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 3,191.72, although it did gain 7.4 points, or 0.2 per cent, for the week. Losers outpaced gainers 251 to 239 on turnover of 1.08 billion shares worth $964.3 million.

Analysts reckoned that as the road ahead for lower inflation appears bumpy, the United States Federal Reserve may not move to cut rates until the downward trend is clear.

This, in turn, could result in markets seeing some volatility and expressing mixed signals as they continue to assess the extent of Fed cuts in 2024, said Maybank Research.

Key regional gauges closed lower except for Japan, which continued its week-long surge. Another dampener was data showing China’s consumer prices declined for the third straight month due to weak domestic demand.

Singapore’s banking stalwarts all saw declines. DBS Bank fell 0.3 per cent to $32.61, UOB retreated 0.1 per cent to $28.30 while OCBC Bank lost 0.1 per cent to $12.88.

Ho Bee Land fell 0.6 per cent to $1.76. The real estate group said on Jan 11 that it expects the net loss for the full year to December 2023 to widen, owing mainly to fair-value losses in the valuation of its portfolio of London investment properties.

Singapore Exchange inched up 0.4 per cent to $9.89. It noted that total market turnover in December fell 3 per cent year on year to $19 billion, with securities daily average value holding steady at $951 million, up 2 per cent from a year ago. THE BUSINESS TIMES