Singapore shares are expected to trade in a narrow range this week on expectations US monetary policy makers would raise interest rates, dealers said.
The US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to raise interest rates to stem the inflationary impact of Hurricane Katrina and high oil prices.
Investors have been cautious on accumulating stocks in anticipation of an increase, which could hit companies in terms of interest costs.
But analysts said data showing exports growing 7.1 percent year-on-year in August should support interest in the market.
While non-oil domestic exports declined 2.7 percent compared with the previous month, economists agree this would not affect economic growth going into the second half.
For the week to September 16, the Straits Times index gained 5.1 points or 0.22 percent to 2,306.38.
Average daily volume was 975 million shares worth 733 million Singapore dollars (436 million US), up from 723 million shares valued at 684 million dollars the week before.
Comments
Comments are closed.