SINGAPORE shares edged lower despite a regional rally, with the Straits Times Index (STI) shedding 0.1 per cent or 2.27 points to 3,215.99 on Monday (Apr 8).

Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 299 to 295 after 1.5 billion securities worth S$886.4 million changed hands.

Regional indices were in the black on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 per cent, while both South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.1 per cent.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong said that the region’s positive start to the week could be due to Wall Street’s strong showing on Friday, despite a spike in US Treasury yields as stronger labour data emerged in the US.

“This comes as Wall Street took the robust US March job report in (its) stride to end last week, choosing to focus on the fact that further resilience in economic conditions may support the corporate earnings recovery and looking beyond the usual pushback against earlier rate cuts,” he said.

Still, he said that further gains could be limited ahead of the release of US consumer price index data on Wednesday. Another round of higher-than-expected CPI readings for March could lead the US Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate cuts at its next meeting in June.

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On the STI, Genting Singapore was the top gainer, rising 1.7 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.91.

Meanwhile, Jardine Matheson Holdings was the biggest loser. It fell 1.7 per cent or US$0.64 to US$36.49.

The trio of local banks were mixed on Monday. DBS rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.05 to S$35.55, while OCBC shed 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$13.73 and UOB shed 0.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$29.37.