Singapore shares flat following overnight retreat on Wall Street

LOCAL equities were flat on Thursday as traders continued to harbour hopes of a fiscal stimulus package ahead of the upcoming US presidential election.

The benchmark Straits Times Index inched up 0.1 per cent or 2.8 points to 2,528.41, with decliners outnumbering advancers 211 to 202 after some 1.34 billion securities worth S$1.01 billion changed hands.

AxiCorp's chief market strategist Stephen Innes said that investors are now "suffering a severe case of stimulus talk exhaustion", and more people are now opting for the sidelines. He is, however, expecting markets to trend in a "more volatile" manner in the lead-up to the highly anticipated "major macro event of the year".