SG Morning Highlights: Del Monte Pacific on Thursday posted earnings of US$20 million for Q4

Advancers / Decliners is 101 to 41, with 62.84 million securities worth S$81.84 million changing hands.

Oil prices dropped by nearly US$2 a barrel on Thursday after another round of remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fanned worries US interest rate hikes would slow economic growth.

Brent crude futures settled at US$110.05 a barrel, falling US$1.69, or 1.5 per cent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at US$104.27 a barrel, down US$1.92, or 1.8 per cent.

Powell said the Fed’s focus on curbing inflation was “unconditional” and the labour market was unsustainably strong, comments that stoked fears of more rate hikes.

Several of South-east Asia's economies could stand to benefit as a global food crisis threatens. Economists and market strategists noted that food inflation has been slower in the region than globally, and that many Asean countries are net exporters of food or fuel. But one economist has advised caution when interpreting headline inflation data.

Keppel Electric, a subsidiary of Keppel Infrastructure Holdings and Laos state-owned electricity company Électricité Du Laos (EDL) have inked an initial 2-year power purchase agreement, pioneering cross-border power trade of renewable energy into Singapore.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is expected to tighten policy settings at its half-yearly review in October – but may now be pushed to do so even earlier, analysts have said. The latest warning came as consumer prices in Singapore continued their upwards creep in May. Headline inflation rose to 5.6 per cent, against 5.4 per cent in April, while core inflation – used to guide policy for the MAS – increased to 3.6 per cent, from 3.3 per cent before.