STI Trades Slightly Lower After MAS Decision

Singapore stocks fell 50 points, or 0.9%, to 5,373 around noon on Thursday, extending losses from the previous month and touching their lowest level since July 8. The decline tracked a fall on Wall Street on Wednesday, weighed down by tech stocks, as hotter-than-expected inflation data raised expectations of a Fed interest rate hike. Rising oil prices also pressured sentiment amid concerns over inflation and interest rate hikes. However, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) left monetary policy unchanged on Wednesday, following GDP growth of 5.4% year-on-year in Q3 2026. Almost all sectors traded in the red, including finance, producer manufacturing, commercial services, and energy minerals. Traders also anticipated the release of September non-oil domestic exports data on Friday, following a surge in August. Among the notable decliners were Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (-4.1%), Keppel (-2.2%), Singapore Technologies Engineering (-1.6%), DBS Group (-1.3%), and OCBC (-0.7%).

Singapore stocks shed 27 points, or 0.5%, to 5,386 around noon on Friday, extending losses for a third straight session and touching their lowest level since July 8, tracking an overnight decline on Wall Street amid a tech-sector sell-off. Traders were cautious ahead of the release of Singapore's Q3 GDP data next week, following an easing in growth in Q2. Caution also mounted ahead of the release of US inflation data, which will help guide the Fed's monetary policy decision at its upcoming meeting, as well as China's consumer and producer price data amid continued weak domestic demand and rising oil prices. Communication, distribution services, and industrial services mainly weighed on the index, while financials edged higher. Among the biggest laggards were UOB (-1.8%), Space Exploration Technologies (-1.4%), DBS Group (-1.2%), and Jardine Matheson (-0.7%). For the week, the index was heading for a 4.4% plunge, which would mark its second consecutive weekly decline.

Singapore's stocks fell 160 points, or 2.9%, to 5,448 around noon on Thursday, extending losses from the previous session and touching their lowest level since July 9, tracking a decline on Wall Street overnight amid higher US Treasury yields. Rising oil prices pressured sentiment, raising concerns over inflation and interest rates. The release of the latest FOMC minutes also pressured the index, after the Fed signalled it could raise rates again this year. Singapore's annual inflation rate rose to 2.3% in August, the highest since July 2024, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore tightened monetary policy last July. Finance, process industries, and transportation mainly weighed on the index, with notable losses from OCBC (-4.9%), HSBC Holdings (-3.5%), DBS Group (-3.4%), Bank Central Asia (-2.8%), and UOB (-2.1%)