Bulls And Bears
S'pore shares down 0.4% amid more Fed tightening concerns
* DFI Retail and Jardine C&C the top decliners among STI stocks * Of the three local banks, OCBC bucks trend, edging 0.2% higher * Regional markets more badly hit, dropping as much as 1.4%
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Janice Lim
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Heightened fears that the United States Federal Reserve will ramp up its already aggressive interest rate policy sent regional markets spiralling into the red yesterday.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) escaped relatively lightly, falling 0.4 per cent or 13 points to 3,210.83, with losers easily outnumbering gainers 297 to 195 on trade of 1.45 billion shares worth $1.2 billion.
The red ink was more evident elsewhere in the region. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4 per cent, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was off 0.8 per cent while Japan's Nikkei closed 0.7 per cent lower.
Australian shares tumbled 1.4 per cent to hit a six-week low with healthcare and tech stocks the only sectors to stay afloat.
The widespread declines followed a sour session on Wall Street overnight with all three indexes falling, after Monday's public holiday gave traders some respite.
IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said the STI has been attempting to hang above the 3,200 level, which also marks its 50-day moving average ahead.
Latest fund flow data from the Singapore Exchange showed a net outflow of $63 million from institutional investors last week, coming after four consecutive weeks of net inflows amounting to $762 million.
"The near-term lower highs and lower lows provided an overall downward bias, and should the 3,200 support level fail to hold, it may unlock room for further downside to 3,145 next," said Mr Yeap.
DFI Retail Group was the top decliner for the day among the 30 STI constituent stocks, falling 3.4 per cent to US$2.59.
Jardine C&C was the second-highest decliner, extending its swings for the third consecutive day. It fell 3.1 per cent to $33.35 after what has been a volatile period.
Two of three local banks closed in the red. DBS fell 0.8 per cent to $32.28 and UOB declined by 0.8 per cent to $26.89. OCBC rose 0.2 per cent to $12.04.
