Singapore stocks end lower ahead of Fed decision; STI down 0.2%
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The benchmark Straits Times Index lost 0.2 per cent or 10.15 points to reach 4,440.21.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Tan Nai Lun
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- Singapore's STI dropped 0.2% to 4,440.21 amidst mixed regional performance before the US FOMC meeting outcome.
- Market anticipates an interest rate cut, but focus is on the tone of the FOMC meeting, influencing market trading strategies.
- Mapletree Logistics Trust led gains while Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust declined; local banks DBS, OCBC, and UOB also fell.
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SINGAPORE - Singapore stocks ended lower on Oct 29, ahead of the US’ monetary policy decision at October’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.2 per cent or 10.15 points to reach 4,440.21, while the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index gained 0.5 per cent or 6.63 points to 1,459.98.
Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 226 to 203, after 917.7 million securities worth $1.3 billion changed hands.
Key regional indexes were mixed. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.2 per cent and the Kospi Composite Index rose 1.8 per cent, while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 0.1 per cent.
Mr Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that the MSCI Asia gauge edged higher, carried by the same silicon tide that has powered global markets all year.
But even with Japan and South Korea leading the charge, more names fell than rose, he said.
While markets have already priced in an interest rate cut, they are keeping their eyes on the results of the FOMC meeting ending on Oct 29.
“This meeting may be far from the ‘low impact’ event that consensus suggests,” Mr Innes said.
“The cut is priced, but the tone – that’s where the real money will trade.”
On the STI, Mapletree Logistics Trust was the top gainer, rising 2.3 per cent or three cents to $1.36.
Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust was the biggest decliner, falling 1.3 per cent or two cents to $1.47.
The local banks ended lower.
DBS Bank lost 0.6 per cent or 35 cents to end at $53.70, OCBC Bank fell 0.3 per cent or five cents to $16.85, and UOB was down 0.1 per cent or four cents at $34.90. THE BUSINESS TIMES
