SINGAPORE – The local market spent another day in a holding pattern while investors here and across the globe await key labour market data in the United States that will determine the state of the economy and the likely trajectory of interest rates.

The cautious mood here on May 3 left the Straits Times Index (STI) drifting for much of the session before closing down 0.1 per cent or 3.96 points to 3,292.93, but still up a modest 12 points for the week.

Gainers outnumbered losers 344 to 239, with 1.2 billion shares worth $964.1 million changing hands, on the broader market.

The STI’s biggest gainer was consumer goods conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings, which rose 2 per cent to close at US$39.29.

The index’s biggest loser was Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, down 3.18 per cent to $1.22.

Seatrium was the most actively traded by volume, with 392.2 million shares changing hands. The counter closed down 3.16 per cent at 9.2 cents.

The wary mood here came in spite of a positive session on Wall Street overnight ahead of the jobs report.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.5 per cent, the benchmark S&P 500 put on 0.9 per cent to break a two-day losing streak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 0.9 per cent.

Regional markets had a mixed response. While the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong climbed 1.5 per cent and Australian shares had their best week in the past five, adding 0.6 per cent, the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.3 per cent. China and Japan were closed for holidays.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said any material weakening in the US labour market could lead the Federal Reserve to impose rate cuts, even if inflation remains sustained and moderately elevated.

He added that the upcoming report will be “a major litmus test” for expectations of near-term rate cuts, which he expects to occur in June or July. THE BUSINESS TIMES