SINGAPORE: Singapore stocks, in tandem with the global sell-off, have been in free fall and given a rapidly-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, market analysts said it would be unrealistic to expect a stability in the market anytime soon.
“In this outbreak, STI is down twice as much,” he said. “This as the outbreak has turned global, in comparison with SARS which was confined within the Asia region.” Asked if she has a target for the STI or how much more downside the local market could see, Ms Lee noted that “there is no point talking about how low the market will go” as the rapidly-evolving disease outbreak renders any data or forecasts “irrelevant” in a matter of hours.Singapore is set tofor businesses, workers and households on Thursday, but it remains to be seen whether that would calm market sentiments.
“The economic assessment of the coronavirus impact across the West would be one to watch and could introduce further volatility to markets,” she added. “A slow return into the market with a dollar-cost averaging strategy may be considered into the second quarter, but it would also be dependent on one’s risk appetite,” said Ms Pan.