Trade issues, impending FOMC minutes weigh on local bourse

GEOPOLITICAL uncertainty and an anticipation of what the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes might suggest next week in terms of interest rate directions kept Singapore's stock market subdued on Friday.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 7.49 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 3,529.27, with some 1.6 billion shares worth S$1.1 billion traded. Losers outpaced gainers 222 to 164. Over the span of the week, the index has lost 1.1 per cent altogether.

Around the region, most Asian stock markets - except Singapore, Australia and India - rose, despite the US decline overnight. Eli Lee, head of investment strategy at the Bank of Singapore, said this could be due to reports of a US-China trade breakthrough, with China offering to cut its annual trade surplus by US$200 billion.