The Singapore stock market moved lower again on Friday, one session after it had ended the two-day losing streak in which it had retreated almost 45 points or 1.3 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,530-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative over concerns for the outlook on interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower on Friday and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The STI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the properties and mixed performances from the financials and the industrials.
For the day, the index sank 7.41 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 3,529.82 after trading between 3,522.65 and 3,545.71. Volume was 3.9 billion shares worth 1.9 billion Singapore dollars. There were 284 decliners and 180 gainers.
Among the actives, SembCorp Marine surged 8.56 percent, while Hutchison Port Holdings plummeted 7.32 percent, SembCorp Industries soared 3.78 percent, CapitaLand Commercial Trust plunged 3.26 percent. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding tumbled 2.48 percent, CapitaLand skidded 2.11 percent, Genting Singapore dropped 1.48 percent, United Overseas Bank shed1.18 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation lost 1.18 percent, SingTel fell 0.85 percent, Comfort DelGro dipped 0.47 percent, DBS Group collected 0.26 percent and Golden Agri-Resources, Thai Beverage, City Developments and Wilmar International all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks moved sharply lower on Friday as traders worried about the prospect of higher interest rates - extending the pullback last week's record highs.
The Dow tumbled 665.75 points or 2.54 percent to 25,520.96, the NASDAQ slumped 144.92 points or 1.96 percent to 7,240.95 and the S&P 500 fell 59.85 points or 2.12 percent to 2,762.13. For the week, the Dow lost 4.1 percent, the NASDAQ shed 3.5 percent and the S&P plunged 3.9 percent.
The concerns about higher interest rates came after the Labor Department reported stronger than expected job growth and a jump in wages. The Federal Reserve may respond to strong economic growth by hiking interest rates three times in 2018.
A negative reaction to quarterly results from big name tech companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Apple (AAPL) also contributed to the selloff.
Crude oil also responded negatively to the jobs report as WTI for March delivery fell 35 cents to $65.45 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.