SINGAPORE - Local shares sank into the red on Feb 28 with wary investors holding their fire until critical data lands, including for personal consumption expenditure in the United States, a key pointer for inflation and interest rates.

The cautious mood left the Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.6 per cent or 18.39 points at 3,138.93, with losers far outpacing gainers 352 to 247, after 2.3 billion shares worth $1.6 billion changed hands.

It was a similar story for most regional markets after the three key Wall Street indexes slipped a little overnight, also in anticipation of key data later this week, although they remained on track for a positive finish to the month.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.1 per cent, Malaysian shares slid 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5 per cent while the ASX 200 in Sydney closed flat. The Kospi in Seoul had a gain of 1 per cent.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that investors shifted their focus back to economic indicators and the anticipated trajectory of US interest rates, with the corporate earnings season nearing the end.

“All in all, Wall Street shimmied within narrow trading ranges and the limited movements are unlikely to provide significant direction for Asian markets, as traders are happy to twiddle thumbs ahead of a US data barrage,” he said.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage was the STI’s top decliner, booking a fall of 1.4 per cent to $25.65 on a cum-dividend basis.

The local lenders also ended in the red. OCBC Bank lost 2.3 per cent to $13.01, UOB shed 0.3 per cent to $28.13 and DBS Bank fell 0.2 per cent to $33.45. All three counters were trading on a cum-dividend basis.

At the other end of the spectrum, Jardine Matheson Holdings was the top constituent gainer for the day, rising 1.3 per cent to US$41.55. THE BUSINESS TIMES