STI up 0.4% on July 10 as investors stay positive despite tariff uncertainty, split Fed views
SINGAPORE – Never mind inflation risks and the ongoing tariff threat, buoyant investors here have driven the local market higher yet again – its fourth straight day of gains.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) closed 0.4 per cent or 17.88 points up at 4,075.70 on July 10 with gainers streaking ahead of losers 324 to 175 on trade of 1.6 billion securities worth $1.2 billion.
Ground handler Sats was the STI's top gainer, up 1.6 per cent to $3.13 after it released its annual report, while DFI Retail Group was at the bottom of the list, down 1 per cent to US$2.91.
The local bourse largely reflected the state of play on Wall Street overnight, where investors shrugged off President Donald Trump's 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian goods, the highest announced this week, and a flurry of other levies.
The Nasdaq was the standout, climbing 0.9 per cent to a record high on the back of a surge in Nvidia shares that valued the tech firm at more than US$4 trillion.
The S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent and is now within touching distance of the record high it hit last week, while the Dow Industrials rose 0.5 per cent.
Regional stocks closed mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.6 per cent, the ASX 200 in Australia closed 0.6 per cent higher and Malaysian shares advanced 0.5 per cent, but Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.4 per cent.
Investors here and across the region are still awaiting firmer signals from the US.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting showed an emerging divide among officials over monetary policy, given the uncertainty around tariffs.
UOB researchers noted that the recent tariff re-escalation will underpin this uncertainty and lead the Fed to maintain its wait-and-see approach on interest rates.
But they added that the risks to growth mean 'we continue to hold our view of three 25-basis point rate cuts in 2025 … and two in 2026'. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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