The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 25 points, or 0.5%, to 5,387 in Tuesday morning trade, extending losses from the previous session. The decline was led mainly by weakness in the technology, finance, non-energy minerals, and producer manufacturing sectors.
The broader market retreated to its lowest level since July 8, amid caution ahead of this week’s release of September inflation data. Consensus forecasts point to inflation holding steady at 2.3%, the highest rate since July 2024. Persistently high inflation has fueled expectations of further monetary policy tightening, even though the Monetary Authority of Singapore left its policy settings unchanged last week after consecutive moves in April and July.
Losses on the STI were partially limited by a positive overnight session on Wall Street, where an easing in the recent tech sell-off provided some support to sentiment. Among the biggest laggards on the index were Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings (-2.3%), Hongkong Land (-1.6%), OCBC (-1.2%), Wilmar International (-1.2%), and UOB (-0.7%).
