The combined value of all Singapore stocks shrank in August as an uninspiring corporate earnings season, inverted yield curves and a late-July US Federal Reserve rate cut heightened fears of a global slowdown.THE combined value of all Singapore stocks shrank in August as an uninspiring corporate earnings season, inverted yield curves and a late-July US Federal Reserve rate cut heightened fears of a global slowdown.
A bid by electrical components company CEIEC to privatise TPV Technology, the world's largest manufacturer of monitors, also caused TPV's market value to swell in August. Sentiment also soured for banks on signs of slowing loan growth, with DBS Group Holdings leading the falls, followed by OCBC Bank and UOB after the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points at the end of July. The market is bracing for net interest margins to take another hit if more rate cuts pan out this year.