SINGAPORE – Fears on Wall Street that US inflation might be stickier than first thought also preyed on local minds and left shares here down a tad on Oct 11.
The end-of-week caution sent the Straits Times Index (STI) slipping 0.3 per cent or 11.53 points to 3,573.76, with losers just ahead of gainers 189 to 179 after 921.9 million securities worth $1.1 billion changed hands.
The wariness stemmed from news overnight of hotter-than-expected inflation figures in the United States. The stubborn inflation reignited hawkish chatter in some corners of Wall Street, putting pressure on stocks, said Mr Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
Investors largely brushed it off, however. The S&P 500 fell just 0.2 per cent, the Dow industrials and the Nasdaq both declined 0.1 per cent.
As Mr Innes noted: “It seems it’ll take more than a mild inflation hiccup to derail the (Federal Reserve’s) trajectory, at least from where traders are sitting.”
He expects eyes to be on China’s anticipated stimulus announcement on Saturday; any boost to consumer spending will be a green light for Asia foreign exchange traders, with bullish ripple effects across China and regional stocks and global commodity markets.
“With few clear signals from US markets, Asian traders might find themselves flying solo, waiting for Saturday’s fiscal firepower,” Mr Innes added.
Regional markets ended mixed. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.6 per cent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 3 per cent, but Malaysian stocks lost 0.5 per cent and the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.1 per cent. Australian shares were flat.
Sats was the STI’s biggest decliner, falling 4.2 per cent to $3.63, while Jardine Cycle & Carriage led the gainers, up 2.2 per cent to $27.65.
The local banking trio ended in
