Singapore shares fall 0.17% as rally loses steam on post-FOMC relief

SINGAPORE shares finished the day lower on Thursday (May 5), after beginning the trading session on an upbeat note following the policy statement of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which ruled out a jumbo 75 basis point rate hike in the coming meetings.

The key Straits Times Index (STI) retreated 5.70 points or 0.17 per cent to 3,343.57, extending Wednesday's marginal losses.

Markets in Japan, South Korea and Indonesia were closed for holidays on Thursday. Key equity gauges in China, Taiwan and Australia made gains; Malaysia and Hong Kong finished lower.

This followed significant gains overnight on Wall Street after Fed chair Jerome Powell played down larger rate hikes. As expected, the FOMC unanimously hiked rates by 50 basis points for the first time since 2000, and said it will start reducing its balance sheet in June. 

Turnover on the local bourse stood at 2.04 billion units worth S$1.30 billion. Gainers outpaced losers with 252 counters up and 224, down. Losses in the key index were led by DBS, Jardine Cycle & Carriage and UOB, which lopped off nearly 14 index points.

Thai Beverage rose S$0.025 or 3.7 per cent to S$0.70 on Thursday (May 5) after the beer and liquor giant said it was resuming the proposed spin-off and listing of its brewery unit BeerCo on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

SEE ALSO

Singapore shares rise at open after US Fed's half-point hike; STI up 0.6%

Asia's post-FOMC relief rally fizzles out on inflation, China's growth concerns

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Units of ESR-Logos Reit (E-Log Reit), which began trading on the SGX, closed S$0.005 or 1.28 per cent up at S$0.395. E-Log Reit was formed from a merger between ESR-Reit and Ara Logos Logistics Trust (ALog Trust), following the merger between the 2 Reits' sponsors - ESR Cayman and ARA Asset Management.

Sembcorp Industries closed unchanged at S$2.97. The group said on Wednesday that it clinched a S$1.2 billion sustainability-linked loan through a wholly-owned unit to fund general corporate purposes and/or renewable energy and sustainable projects.

Hatten Land also closed unchanged at S$0.038. The company said it has inked a 10-year pact with a subsidiary of Chinese media group Focus Media Information Technology to invest around 8 million yuan (S$1.7 million) in an e-sports hub project in Melaka.