THE Singapore benchmark, like most of its regional peers, entered the afternoon session trading lower during a week where the US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a rate cut and US and Chinese officials are scheduled to meet for trade talks in Shanghai.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, stocks fell in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Australia bucked the trend, adding 0.5 per cent. Across the market, decliners outpaced advancers 193 to 138. The benchmark index had 29 of the STI's 30 components trading in the red. The growth in bottomline was attributed to higher total income as business momentum from the first quarter was sustained into April-June period.