Singapore shares muted at Thursday’s open; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks were off to a muted start on Thursday (Dec 15), amid overnight declines on Wall Street as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 2.42 points to 3,280.99 as at 9.01 am. Gainers outnumbered losers 69 to 39 after 31.6 million shares worth S$64 million changed hands.

H2G Green Limited was the most actively traded counter by volume, after the Catalist-listed company requested for its Dec 12 trading halt to be lifted on Thursday, before markets opened. Some 6.1 million shares traded hands, and H2G Green gained 8.3 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.026 as at 9.01 am.

Watch-listed Eneco Energy saw active trading as well, with 3.1 million shares traded but remained flat at S$0.011.

Among index counters, Thai Beverage saw 1.2 million shares trading hands, and gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.685.

The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade, with DBS posting a 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 gain to S$34.09, and OCBC shedding 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.39. UOB gained 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$30.97 as at 9.01 am.

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US stocks fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve sketched out plans for additional interest rate hikes despite recent data showing a moderation in inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he was encouraged by the latest consumer price data, but that the central bank’s policy was “still not restrictive enough” in light of too-high inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.4 per cent at 33,966.35. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.6 per cent lower to 3,995.32, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.8 per cent to 11,170.89.

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STI rises 0.2% on hopes of softer US Fed rate hikes

Meanwhile, European shares were subdued on Wednesday after hitting near one-week highs in the previous session, as investors treaded cautiously ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s imminent interest rate decision.

The region-wide Stoxx 600 was flat by close. The index had rallied more than 1 per cent on Tuesday after softer-than-expected US inflation data raised hopes of the Fed shifting to smaller rate hikes.