Singapore stocks pull back on bond rout

WALL Street's biggest pullback in more than four months dragged down the local bourse's key Straits Times Index (STI) on Tuesday - a tune that most other major Asian bourses also moved to following an overnight sell-off in government bonds that tested confidence in equities.

The STI sank 28.33 points or 0.8 per cent to finish at 3,548.74 on Tuesday - its lowest finish in nearly two weeks - with some 3.2 billion shares worth S$1.6 billion changing hands.

Most other Asian markets were also spooked with the declines coming ahead of US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address and a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy-making committee that wraps up on Wednesday.