SINGAPORE equities ended Thursday (Feb 20) lower, as markets reacted to the US Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes.
The local bourse’s blue-chip barometer, the Straits Times Index (STI), slid 0.2 per cent or 6.53 points to 3,927.51.
Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 320 to 205, with 1.5 billion securities worth S$1.4 billion changing hands.
The US Fed minutes released on Wednesday showed that policymakers believe potential changes in trade and immigration policy could hinder disinflation, implying rates may not be cut.
IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said that US President Donald Trump’s policies “no doubt added complexity to the Fed’s balancing act between inflation and employment”.
“That said, with market expectations already well-aligned for a rate hold over the next two Federal Open Market Committee meetings, the minutes served more as confirmation of existing sentiment,” he noted.
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Key indices in the Asia-Pacific closed in the red. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.6 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index declined 0.7 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 retreated 1.2 per cent and Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index cut 0.2 per cent.
Back home, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding extended gains to finish top of the STI, adding 3.1 per cent or S$0.10 to S$3.30.
Its biggest loser was Seatrium, which shed 2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$2.50.
Local banks finished mixed. OCBC slid 0.7 per cent or S$0.13 to S$17.72, UOB descended 0.4 per cent or S$0.15 to S$38.43, while DBS added 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$46.08.
