SINGAPORE stocks closed lower on the last trading day of the week, as investors awaited official employment data from the US on Friday (Sep 6).
The jobs report for August will influence the Federal Reserve’s plan for interest rate cuts ahead of its meeting later this month.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said that the odds of interest rate cuts are locked in.
However, indications of a softening labour market will determine if the Federal Reserve will decide on a “full-blown” 50-basis-point rate cut to provide an extra lifeline to the economy, he said.
In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 4.19 points to 3,454.47 on Friday.
Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 211 to 198, as 1.1 billion shares worth S$1.3 billion were traded across the day.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
The biggest gainer on the STI was logistics real estate investment trust Mapletree Logistics Trust. It climbed 2.9 per cent or S$0.04 to S$1.40.
The biggest decliner on the index was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. The counter slid 3.4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$2.52.
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust remained the most actively traded counter by volume for the third day running, with 80.2 million shares worth S$170.9 million changing hands. The counter rose 2.4 per cent or S$0.05 to close at S$2.14.
Across the region, markets were mostly in the red.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 0.7 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.2 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index was also down, by 0.8 per cent. Australia’s ASX 200, however, climbed 0.4 per cent.
Trade on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was halted on Friday due to a typhoon.
