Singapore stocks end lower as rate hikes weigh on sentiment; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks ended slightly lower on Friday (Mar 3), as persistent inflation and rate hikes continued to weigh on investor sentiment through the week.

The Straits Times Index (STI) slid 0.1 per cent or 2.88 points to 3,232.02. On the wider bourse, gainers outnumbered losers 282 to 230, after 2.6 billion securities worth S$1.2 billion changed hands.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that the upside to inflation figures in the US had shifted market worries “rapidly” from recession to overheating, and challenged many of the trends that prevailed in January.