STI rises 0.4% after Fed pause

[SINGAPORE] The Straits Times Index (STI) closed higher on Thursday (Jan 29) after the US Federal Reserve overnight held interest rates unchanged during its first policy gathering of 2026.

The blue-chip barometer closed 0.4 per cent or 20.69 points higher at 4,930.03. Only three of the index’s 30 constituents finished the day lower.

But the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index – which tracks the performance of the 50 largest companies listed on the mainboard after the STI stocks – fell 0.3 per cent or 3.85 points to 1,501.25.

Sembcorp Industries was the STI’s best performer on Thursday, rising 3.5 per cent or S$0.21 to S$6.13. This came a day after the group announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Sembcorp Power will supply memory chip giant Micron with an additional 150 megawatts of power to support a new Woodlands plant in capturing artificial intelligence demand.

DBS was close to touching the S$60 milestone, but did not manage to maintain momentum; the counter closed at S$59.79, up 0.4 per cent or S$0.25.

OCBC rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.06 to S$21.35, while UOB fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$38.65.

Across the broader market, gainers edged out decliners 289 to 288 after 1.6 billion securities worth S$2 billion changed hands.

The Fed’s decision to pause interest rate cuts on Wednesday came on the back of a solid economy, and diminished risks to both inflation and employment. The US central bank had cut rates at three consecutive meetings in 2025.

Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Securities in Singapore, said the pause was “universally expected after the back-to-back ‘risk management cuts’ totalling 75 basis points, although the accompanying rhetoric had a more hawkish edge to the underlying easing bias”.