SINGAPORE: Singapore stocks showed little movement on Tuesday, Aug 27, following a positive close the previous day, influenced by comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Mr Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole symposium suggested the possibility of a rate cut in September, leading to a temporary boost in market sentiment.
The Straits Times Index (STI) dipped slightly, down by 0.28 points, or 0.01%, settling at 3,395.75 at 9:01 am, as reported by The Business Times. In the broader market, 60 stocks declined while 48 gained, with 36.6 million securities changing hands, amounting to S$32.2 million.
Silverlake Axis, a company specialising in enterprise technology, was among the most actively traded stocks. Its shares surged by S$0.065, or 21.7%, reaching S$0.36 per share, with 6.7 million shares traded.
This spike followed an announcement that the company had received a voluntary unconditional offer to go private at S$0.36 per share in cash. Shareholders were also offered the option to accept a mix of cash and redeemable preference shares.
Meanwhile, Genting Singapore saw its shares slip by S$0.005, or 0.6%, to S$0.81 in early trading. RH PetroGas, on the other hand, rose by S$0.007, or 4.5%, to S$0.162.
The performance of local banks was mixed in the morning trade. DBS was the only gainer, up S$0.08, or 0.2%, to S$35.89. OCBC dipped by S$0.01, or 0.1%, to S$14.42, while UOB edged down by S$0.03, or 0.1%, to S$30.93.
US markets closed with mixed results after Mr Powell expressed support for starting interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a slight gain of 0.2%, closing at 41,240.52.
However, the S&P 500 edged down by 0.3% to 5,616.84, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.9% to 17,725.76.
In Europe, stocks closed largely unchanged, with semiconductor shares dragging the technology sector down ahead of key economic data releases later in the week. The Stoxx 600 ended flat at 518.05. /TISG
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