SINGAPORE: Singapore's dollar weakened 1 percent by lunchtime on Thursday, leaving it set for its largest single-day fall in eight months after the central bank unexpectedly eased its exchange-rate based monetary policy.

The Singapore dollar fell to 1.3645 per the US dollar, its weakest since March 29.

Barring a recovery before the close, the Singapore dollar was set its largest daily depreciation since Aug. 11, according to Thomson Reuters data. Earlier, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it will set the rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar NEER policy band at zero percent - starting on Thursday - and shift to a neutral policy stance.

Copyright Reuters, 2016