SINGAPORE – Inflation data suggesting US interest rate cuts are further away than ever hit Wall Street overnight and jolted regional shares on April 11.

The inflation numbers – the third month in a row of elevated figures – sent key indexes down in New York. The S&P 500 slid 0.9 per cent, the Dow industrials slipped 1.1 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq retreated 0.8 per cent.

Local shares fared better with the Straits Times Index (STI) falling just 0.3 per cent or 9.91 points to 3,227.61. Gainers beat losers 319 to 305 after 2.1 billion shares worth $1.4 billion changed hands.

Regional markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.4 per cent, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.3 per cent, but the Kospi in Seoul inched up 0.1 per cent. Fears that Australian rates will also stay high sent the market there down 0.4 per cent.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the US economy has shown significant strength in 2024, leaving little room for a further slowdown in services sector inflation.

“Market participants are now viewing the situation through a much less dovish lens, expecting only 50 basis points of easing for 2024,” he added. “Perhaps even that is a stretch, as (the US Federal Reserve) may consider this outlook optimistic in light of the unexpectedly hotter price pressure.”

Mr Innes noted that a surging greenback will be “like an anvil” hanging over risk markets after the euro, pound and yen fell in response to higher-for-longer interest rate expectations in the US.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage was the STI’s top gainer, rising 2.3 per cent to $26.71, while Mapletree Logistics Trust was at the bottom of the table, down 2.7 per cent at $1.46.

The banks were mixed – DBS Bank gained 0.6 per cent to $36, OCBC Bank was up 0.4 per cent to $13.86, and UOB fell 0.4 per cent to $29.50. THE BUSINESS TIMES