SINGAPORE stocks rose in early trade on Monday (Dec 23), tracking gains in the broader Asia-Pacific region after cooler-than-expected inflation in the US eased concerns over the trajectory of interest rate cuts in 2025.
The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 6.85 points or 0.2 per cent to 3,726.78 as at 9.01 am. Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered losers 75 to 41, with 69.3 million securities worth S$49.4 million transacted.
Singapore Post was among the most actively traded stocks, with 8.4 million shares changing hands. The counter slumped 8 per cent or S$0.045 to S$0.515, after the firm terminated the employment of three of its senior management staff on Sunday.
Another stock that was heavily traded was Advanced Systems Automation, with nearly eight million shares transacted. The counter tanked 33.3 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.01.
The three banking stocks were all in the green – DBS was 0.1 per cent or S$0.05 higher at S$42.87; OCBC advanced 0.2 per cent or S$0.04 to S$16.43, and UOB rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$35.86.
The gains mirrored advances in the broader Asia-Pacific region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.5 per cent higher at 38,891.2, while Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.6 per cent to 8,115.5.
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US stocks rallied on Friday after a cooler-than-expected inflation report and comments from Federal Reserve officials eased worries about the path of interest rates. The Personal Consumption Expenditure index rose 2.4 per cent in November on an annual basis – just below the 2.5 per cent estimate of economists polled by Reuters.
After the data, traders raised their slightly increased expectations for Fed rate cuts in 2025, now expecting the first one in March and another by October. Before the report, they saw a roughly 50 per cent chance of a second rate cut by December 2025.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 per cent to 42,840.26, the S&P 500 gained 1.1 per cent to 5,930.85, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1 per cent to 19,572.6.
In Europe, equities clocked their second straight weekly fall, with the healthcare sector leading losses after Danish company Novo Nordisk tumbled on disappointing data from its next-generation obesity drug trial.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.9 per cent lower at 502.19, paring some losses after falling as much as 2 per cent during the session.
