At closing bell, the Straits Times Index (STI) index was down 13.81 points or 0.42% to 3,272.23 after trading between 3,265.53 and 3,308.30. Volume was 1.18 billion shares worth S$1.19 billion. There were 260 gainers and 281 decliners.
Thai Beverage Public Co, was the top performer among Singapore's blue-chip stocks, gaining 1.6% to S$0.625. At the bottom of the table was HongKongLand, which fell 5.3% to US$3.97.
Market sentiments turned downbeat after a slew of hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve this week. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday that the central bank needs to raise interest rates much more to curb inflation, with a series of hikes this year having only a limited impact on price pressures.
Sentiment towards China was dented as the country logged its biggest daily jump in COVID cases in seven months. Rising infections brewed concerns over renewed lockdown measures in the country, which have severely crimped economic growth this year. Weak economic readings from China released this week also showed that the country was struggling to navigate new lockdown measures, denting sentiment.
Back to home, the trio of local banks ended mixed. DBS fell 0.2% to S$35.54, OCBC Bank rose 0.6% to S$12.55. UOB rose 0.3% to S$30.25.
Most of Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Friday, as hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve and worsening COVID-19 infections in China kept most investors from making large bets.
Japan's Nikkei225 index declined 30.80 points, or 0.11%, to 27,899.77. China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.58%, or 18.19 points, to 3,097.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 53.12 points, or 0.29%, to 17,992.54. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1%.
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