SINGAPORE – Investors struggled to find much to excite them on May 2 and left local shares flat after the United States Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady in its latest meeting.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) was stuck in the doldrums for the session, managing to inch up just 0.1 per cent, or 4.2 points, to 3,296.89.
Gainers outstripped losers 335 to 270 on trade of 1.6 billion counters worth $1.4 billion on the broader market.
Wall Street had a largely negative reaction to the Fed news, although chairman Jerome Powell did reassure nervous investors that another interest rate hike was unlikely despite stubbornly high inflation.
Regional indexes were more mixed.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.3 per cent, but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong surged 2.5 per cent while Malaysian shares increased 0.3 per cent.
Australian stocks also lifted, rising 0.35 per cent.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said it was a surprise that the market was neutral following Mr Powell’s commentary, which “leaned towards the dovish side of the equation, considering the prevailing hawkish drum beat in recent days”.
“However, despite this shift, traders remain inflation-cautious, knowing that another hotter consumer price index reading could easily bury that last rate cut that markets are desperately holding on to.”
Those crucial April inflation figures for the United States are set to be released on May 15.
Back home, DBS Bank led the STI gainers, putting on 1.9 per cent to $35.55.
The lender posted a bumper first-quarter profit of $2.95 billion, up 15 per cent, with chief executive Piyush Gupta saying that earnings are likely to exceed its record 2023 levels.
The two other local banks also ended higher. OCBC Bank gained 0.6 per cent to $14.34 and UOB expanded 0.2 per cent to $30.47.
CapitaLand Investment was at the bottom of the STI, shedding 3.8 per cent to $2.56. THE BUSINESS TIMES
