Singapore stocks fall 0.1% despite record session on Wall Street overnight

SINGAPORE – A record session on Wall Street overnight failed to inspire local investors, who were more focused on the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) easing policy settings here and US President Donald Trump calling for lower interest rates.

The mixed signals left the Straits Times Index (STI) in the doldrums, eventually dipping 0.1 per cent, or 2.31 points, to 3,804.26 on Jan 24.

On the bright side, gainers outstripped losers 269 to 193 on trade of one billion securities worth $962.2 million.

The STI’s biggest gainer was Singtel, up 2.9 per cent to $3.20. The telco was also among the most active with 31.2 million shares transacted. Sats was the STI’s cellar dweller, falling 2.3 per cent to $3.44. The local banks fell: DBS Bank declined 0.7 per cent to $43.51; UOB was down 0.3 per cent to $37.25; and OCBC Bank slipped 0.1 per cent to $17.07.

It was a far cry from Wall Street, where a robust earnings season and President Trump’s backing for tax cuts and deregulation helped send the S&P 500 up 0.5 per cent and its first record of 2025.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9 per cent while the Nasdaq advanced 0.2 per cent.

The key regional indexes were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.9 per cent, the Shanghai Composite put on 0.7 per cent and Australian stocks climbed 0.4 per cent to end the week ahead 1.2 per cent. The losers were in Tokyo, where shares fell 0.1 per cent, and in Malaysia, where counters dropped 0.2 per cent.

The local chatter centred on MAS moves to favour a more gradual appreciation of the Singapore dollar. Mr Barnabas Gan, RHB’s acting group chief economist, said “a resilient economic backdrop will likely persuade MAS to keep its policy parameters unchanged in the upcoming quarters”.

He believes a “wait-and-see approach” may be needed before deciding to move policy parameters, given the sizeable inflation risks. THE BUSINESS TIMES