Singapore stocks flat at Monday’s open; STI up 0.01%

SINGAPORE stocks remained relatively unchanged on Monday (Jan 29) following updates from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) that it will leave monetary policy settings unchanged.

On Monday morning, MAS announced that it will maintain the prevailing rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate policy band, extending the pause from its 2023 meetings, in line with market expectations.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained a marginal 0.01 per cent or 0.41 point to reach 3,159.94 as at 9.01 am.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 57 to 42, after 32.9 million securities worth S$37.5 million changed hands.

Golden Agri-Resources was the most actively traded counter by volume in the morning, with 3.6 million shares changing hands. It rose 1.9 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.27.

Seatrium saw brisk trading as well, rising 1.9 per cent or S$0.002 to S$0.106.

The trio of local banks traded mixed. DBS inched up 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 to S$32.11, and UOB rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.17 to S$28.67. OCBC slipped 0.5 per cent or S$0.07 to S$12.91.

Stocks on Wall Street finished mixed on Friday, ending S&P 500’s streak of records following moderate inflation data and uneven corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2 per cent to 38,109.43, eking out a fresh record. But, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 4,890.97, snapping a four-day streak of records. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.4 per cent to 15,455.36.

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Stocks to watch: Frasers Centrepoint Trust, CapitaLand Ascott Trust, Far East Orchard, Boustead Singapore

In Europe, shares closed higher on Friday as investors assessed interest rate cut prospects following the European Central Bank’s latest policy decision.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 1.1 per cent higher at 483.84, hitting its highest level in two years and clocking a weekly advance of 3.1 per cent.