Singapore shares could in response to a possible sale of US bank Citigroup, dealers said. Top executives at the financial giant are considering the sale of all or parts of the bank, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website late Thursday.
Selling is among a range of dire scenarios company executives were considering after Citigroup stock fell another 26 percent on Thursday. The board of directors was expected to meet Friday to discuss options to reverse the stock slide, people familiar with the situation told the daily.
Investors will be watching developments at Citigroup, said Najeeb Jarhom, senior vice-president at AmFraser Securities in Singapore. He said the market is also worried about a repeat of "Black Monday", when stock markets plunged on Monday October 19, 1987.
"I think everybody's scared of that," said Jarhom. Further insight into the ailing Singapore economy is to come next Wednesday, when the government releases manufacturing data for October. Singapore on Friday further downgraded its growth forecast for 2008 and said its economy - which is in recession - could contract in 2009.