SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - There was not much movement among local shares on Thursday as investors kept their powder dry in anticipation of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium.

The gathering of central bankers, policymakers, academics and economists from around the world takes place today.

The mood of caution left the Straits Times Index (STI) up by a marginal 0.06 per cent or 1.93 points to 3,109.42 points with only six of 30 STI constituents registering gains while four were flat.

Losers beat gainers 258 to 181 on the broader market, with 1.39 billion shares worth $1.01 billion changing hands.

Dairy Farm International posted gains of 2.31 per cent to US$3.55, making the supermarket group the best STI performer.

Transport counter ComfortDelGro, which was 1.24 per cent lower at $1.60, was the top STI loser.

The company is pursuing an initial public offering for its Australian subsidiary to unlock value, but has given little detail of the proposed flotation.

Penny counter Shen Yao was flat at .06 cents with 226.2 million shares traded, as the gold miner emerged as the most active stock.

Asian markets were mixed.

South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.58 per cent after the central bank became the first in Asia to raise interest rates since the pandemic hit.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also closed lower, down 0.54 per cent - its biggest fall in seven sessions and the end of its three-day winning streak.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.09 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 1.08 per cent to 25,415.69 points.

But the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index climbed 1.02 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.06 per cent.

Wall Street scaled new record heights with the Dow up 0.1 per cent while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained 0.2 per cent.