STI tumbles nearly 1% amid global sell-off on tariff tremor

THE Singapore market was not spared from the sharp selloff in global equities after US President Donald Trump vowed to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium imports next week and sparked concerns of a potential global trade war and prices of goods racheting up amid heightened worries over inflation.

The key Straits Times Index shed 34.65 points or nearly one per cent to finish at 3,479.2 on Friday - its fourth straight day of losses.

Elsewhere in the region, some markets were harder hit by the the tariff tremors which had led to a sell off in US' three key stock indices overnight Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.5 per cent, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.5 per cent. Key indices in Taiwan, South Korea, Australia and Malaysia were also in the red.