SINGAPORE--The Singapore dollar was slightly lower against the U.S. dollar in late Asia trade Monday, but investors were mostly on the sidelines looking for further leads on when the U.S. Fed will start tapering its easy monetary policy.
The market mostly shrugged off the latest October Singapore inflation data, which showed that consumer prices rose at a slower-than-expected pace during the month due to a slower gain in housing costs. According to the data, CPI in October rose 2.0% compared with an median estimate for a 2.2% gain in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of six economists. But the rise in October was higher than a 1.6% gain in September.
Analysts say that looking ahead, participants will likely focus on economic data coming out of the U.S., such as pending home sales due later in the day.
"Asian currencies may remain somewhat vulnerable against the broad [U.S.] dollar, with the SGD NEER [Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate] also perceived to be somewhat rich in the current dollar landscape," OCBC Bank said in a note to clients.
In the local government bond market, prices were unchanged on a lack of fresh issuance in the market.
