Local stocks end week flat as US January inflation figures spook traders

AFTER 4 consecutive days of gains this week, Singapore shares ended the last trading day of the week largely unchanged, due in part to inflation levels in the US for January hitting the highest levels in 40 years with prices rising 7.5 per cent from January 2021.

The benchmark Straits Times Index inched up by a negligible 0.03 per cent or 0.95 point to 3,428.95. Daily turnover came in at 1.2 billion securities worth S$1.4 billion, with decliners outnumbering advancers 255 to 184, for the first time this week.

Across the region, markets mostly ended the day with losses. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.1 per cent; the SSE Composite Index fell 0.7 per cent, and the Kospi shed 0.9 per cent.

There were, however, a couple of outliers - the Nikkei was up 0.4 per cent and the KLCI gained 0.6 per cent.

Mizuho Bank's head of economics and strategy Vishnu Varathan said the release of the latest US inflation figures now subjects the Federal Reserve to "the burden of great expectations".

"Specifically, from having the option of a more aggressive 50 basis points (bps) hike, the Fed is increasingly pressured to deliver on this more aggressive rendition; such that it will have to justify not hiking by 50 bps," he said, adding that markets' "hawkish expectations" have now grown even greater.

On the local bourse, DBS d05 was the top gainer, adding 1.1 per cent or S$0.40 to S$37.25. The other 2 local lenders were also among the best performers: OCBC 039 rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.09 to S$13.33, while UOB u11 added 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$32.60.

Thinly-traded Azeus Systems bbw was the biggest decliner, falling 3.7 per cent or S$0.23 to S$6.00. iFast Corporation aiy was another top decliner, shedding 3 per cent or S$0.20 to S$6.35.

Among the 30 constituent counters, CapitaLand Investment was the biggest loser, down 2.1 per cent or S$0.08 to S$3.66.

Disa Limited 532 was the most heavily traded counter by volume on Friday, with some 102.2 million shares changing hands. The stock ended the day flat at S$0.006.

Other heavily traded counters included QT Vascular 5i0 , Sembcorp Marine s51 and Jiutian Chemical c8r .