Singapore shares closed 0.4 percent lower on Monday, dragged down by uncertainty about the possibility of the first U.S. rate hike.
The weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data for August threw the timeline of interest rate hike into uncertainty, pushing down the U.S. stocks last Friday.
Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China has issued a statement saying that government spending will be upped to 10 percent from the 7 percent previously budgeted, by leaning on designated state- owned enterprises to pay higher dividends.
ING bank said that the increase in spending is equivalent to 0. 7 percent of China's Gross Domestic Product, and together with the considerable monetary and macro prudential policy stimulus already in place will put full-year growth in the 'about 7 percent' range.
DBS Group Research said the weaker Singapore dollar against the greenback could lead to funds outflow as well as upward pressure on the Singapore Swop Offer Rate (SOR) and the Singapore Interbank Offered Rates (SIBOR).
The Straits Times Index remains within DBS' base case of 2,750 points and 3,050 points range, but there is downward bias towards the range low at 2,750 points.
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index fell 11.4 points to 2, 852.41 points. Trading volume was 840 million shares worth 834 million Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 266 to 124, while 549 stocks did not move.
Among top actives, Ezra Holdings shed 0.8 percent to 12.9 Singapore cents. It announced that its subsea services division, EMAS AMC, has finalized a contract with BHP Billiton for the Angostura phase 3 development offshore Trinidad and Tobago in the eastern Trinidadian sector of the Venezuela basin. Ramba Energy jumped 9.8 percent to 22.5 Singapore cents.
It has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a strategic investor to farm-out a 25 percent working interest in the Lemang production sharing contract from the Company's 80.4 percent-owned Indonesian subsidiary, PT Hexindo Gemilang Jaya.
Under the terms of the MoU, the aggregate consideration for the proposed transaction is up to 128.3 million U.S. dollars, consisting of an upfront cash payment of approximately 188 million U.S. dollars, with the remaining cash payments payable upon achieving certain agreed milestones.
Among top gainers, Jardine Strategic rose 0.8 percent to 27.93 U.S. dollars, while Jardine Matheson became one of the top losers by falling 1 percent to 48.72 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.43 Singapore dollars)
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