Singapore stocks hit record high amid mixed trading in Asia as investors assess Fed's latest comments

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Sunset country of airy trails postulation speeds done an intersection successful Gangnam halfway concern territory of Seoul astatine Seoul city, South Korea

Mongkol Chuewong | Moment | Getty Images

Singapore stocks deed a grounds precocious connected Wednesday amid mixed trading successful the Asia-Pacific region, arsenic investors digested the latest comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell said Tuesday that the cardinal slope would person already chopped involvement rates if it weren't for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff initiatives.

Singapore equities climbed 0.45% to a grounds precocious of 4,008.85 points Wednesday afternoon, information from LSEG showed.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 0.56% to adjacent astatine 39,762.48, and the Topix mislaid 0.21% to 2,826.04. South Korea's Kospi was 0.47% little astatine 3,075.06 portion the Kosdaq declined 0.19% to 782.17.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.66% to extremity the trading time astatine 8,597.7.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index roseate 0.73% portion the mainland CSI 300 was level astatine 3,943.68.

U.S. banal futures inched higher Asian hours aft investors began the 2nd fractional of the twelvemonth with a reduced appetite for exertion stocks.

Overnight stateside, the 3 large averages closed mixed. The S&P 500 inched down 0.11% and closed astatine 6,198.01, portion the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.82% to settee astatine 20,202.89. The blue-chip Dow was the outlier, gaining 400.17 points, oregon 0.91%, to extremity astatine 44,494.94.

— CNBC's Sean Conlon and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.

Thailand stocks gaffe aft tribunal suspends premier curate from office

Thailand banal markets slipped 0.41% aft the country's premier curate Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office by the Constitutional Court implicit a leaked telephone speech with erstwhile Cambodian person Hun Sen.

The leak coincided with a delicate infinitesimal for Paetongtarn and the ruling Pheu Thai party, which was already grappling with economical woes and an escalating borderline quality with Cambodia.

The Thai baht past traded level astatine 32.42 against the dollar.

— Lee Ying Shan

Macau gaming stocks surge aft gaming gross jumps

Macau's gaming stocks roseate aft its city's monthly gaming gross successful June surged 19% from a twelvemonth ago.

Casinos brought successful astir 21.1 cardinal patacas ($2.6 billion) past month, information from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) showed.

Shares of Sands China roseate 7.22%, portion MGM China Holdings jumped 7.92%. Wynn Macau and Galaxy Entertainment roseate 6.83% and 7.17% respectively.

—Lee Ying Shan

Singapore stocks deed grounds high

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Singapore stocks year-to-date

Singapore equities climbed 0.4% to a grounds precocious of 4,005.39 points Wednesday greeting section time, beating its past grounds connected March 28, information from LSEG showed.

UBS connected Tuesday upgraded Singapore equities to Attractive. "The marketplace offers a antiaircraft harmless haven amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, backed by a unchangeable currency, generous dividend yields, and a dependable net outlook," said Tan Min Lan, caput main concern bureau successful the APAC squad astatine UBS Global Wealth Management.

"The ongoing equity marketplace reforms supply further catalysts successful the signifier of a SGD 5 cardinal superior injection and imaginable value-up initiatives to unlock shareholder value," she added.

—Lee Ying Shan

South Korea's ostentation complaint hits highest since January

South Korea's header inflation complaint successful June roseate astatine its fastest gait since January, coming successful astatine 2.2% twelvemonth implicit year.

The ostentation fig was higher than the 2.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters, and higher than the 1.9% seen successful May.

The country's halfway ostentation complaint — which strips retired nutrient and vigor costs — held dependable astatine 2% compared to the aforesaid period of the erstwhile year, and 0.1% higher than May.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japanese stocks pb region's losses astatine the open

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Performance of Japanese stocks year-on-year

Hello from Singapore, and present are the opening calls

Good greeting from Singapore. It's 7.29 a.m. section clip and futures are pointing toward a mostly higher open.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 is acceptable to unfastened lower, with the futures declaration successful Chicago astatine 39,665 portion its counterpart successful Osaka past traded astatine 39,570, against the index's past adjacent of 39,986.33.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is poised for a higher unfastened with futures tied to the benchmark astatine 8,558 compared to its past adjacent of 8,541.1.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood astatine 24,170, higher than its past adjacent of 24,072.28.

—Lee Ying Shan

Fed could chopped rates if determination is 'compelling grounds of labour marketplace deterioration,' Bank of America says

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell walks to be a property league pursuing the issuance of the Federal Open Market Committee's connection connected involvement complaint argumentation successful Washington, D.C., U.S., June 18, 2025.

Kevin Mohatt | Reuters

Although Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said past week that helium expects policymakers to stay connected clasp until there's much clarity connected the interaction of President Donald Trump's tariffs connected prices, the cardinal slope whitethorn look to chopped involvement rates if there's a downturn successful the labour market.

"Occam's razor suggests that ostentation is already stuck supra target, with risks to the upside from tariffs implicit the adjacent respective months," wrote economist Aditya Bhave successful a Tuesday note. "The Fed mightiness inactive chopped rates this twelvemonth if determination is compelling grounds of labour marketplace deterioration. But the deficiency of advancement connected ostentation raises the barroom for cuts."

Additionally, Bhave anticipates determination could beryllium overmuch much interaction to the U.S. system from tariffs ahead.

"An optimistic instrumentality connected the information would beryllium that the pickup successful goods ostentation reflects immoderate preemptive terms hikes up of the tariffs," helium continued. "Still, determination is astir apt a batch much tariff-driven ostentation successful the pipeline."

— Sean Conlon

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