SINGAPORE--The Singapore dollar barely moved against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday despite disappointing Singapore exports data, as all eyes were on the crucial U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that starts later in the global day.
The U.S. dollar was quoted at S$1.2566 late in Asia on Tuesday, steady versus S$1.2562 around the same time on Monday. During the day, it stayed in a narrow S$1.2545 to S$1.2573 range as markets awaited signals from the U.S. central bank on whether it will start to scale down its bond-buying program.
Exports of goods made in Singapore fell 8.8% in November compared with a year earlier, after rising 2.8% in October, government data showed. The median estimate of five economists in a Wall Street Journal poll was for November exports to gain 4.2% from a year earlier.
Singapore government bonds were higher after the weak exports data. Yields on both the benchmark 10- and 2-year government bonds fell three basis points to 2.47% and 0.41%, respectively. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
