Shares down ahead of Trump speech

But ST Index stays just above the 3,000-level; losers outnumber gainers at a ratio of nine to eight

Published Wed, Jan 11, 2017 · 09:50 PM

HAPPINESS is reality minus expectation, as they say. And after weeks of elevated optimism in the market about how United States President-elect Donald Trump's plans to cut taxes and spend on infrastructure - that wall, for instance - will likely give a fillip to the world's biggest economy, Wednesday may have seemed a good day to recalibrate those hopes.

Some hours ahead of Mr Trump's first press conference since before the November election, scheduled for late Wednesday night Singapore time, local stocks ended the day 0.2 per cent lower, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) dropping 5.08 points to 3,000.94.

The index mirrored the broad market. Losers outnumbered gainers 233 to 206, or about nine down for every eight up.

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