SINGAPORE – A record-setting session on Wall Street and regional gains weren’t enough to keep local shares from dipping into the red on Oct 10.
The damage was limited with the Straits Times Index (STI) down just 0.3 per cent or 10.37 points to 3,585.29, although gainers outstripped losers 313 to 250 on trade of 1.3 billion securities worth $1.1 billion.
The STI’s biggest decliner was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, down 2.8 per cent to $2.48, while Jardine Matheson was the top gainer, rising 1.3 per cent to US$39.10.
The lenders ended lower: DBS Bank fell 0.2 per cent to $38.74; OCBC Bank lost 0.3 per cent to $15.01; while UOB ended 0.03 per cent at $31.92.
It was a lacklustre day, given the heroics on Wall Street overnight, where the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both closed at record highs while the Nasdaq added 0.6 per cent.
Investors there are in a buoyant mood, thanks to robust economic data crowding out uncertainty over Middle East tensions and the United States elections.
Key regional indexes got the hint and finished higher. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 3 per cent and Malaysian shares added 0.6 per cent.
Australia was a standout, with stocks up 0.4 per cent to their highest point in seven days and second-highest close on record.
“Stocks have been spinning like a top all week as investors grapple with the true state of the economy,” said SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes.
He noted that in some ways, investors have jumped the gun, expecting immediate results before the rate cuts have had time to filter through.
But Mr Innes expects the US Federal Reserve’s easing mantra to be “a clear green light for
