BANGKOK: Singapore’s dollar hit its weakest level since 2010 after the central bank surprisingly eased economic policy. European stocks-index futures followed increases by U.S. contracts on record Apple Inc. sales, as oil fell.
Singapore’s dollar sank as much as 1.3 percent by 7:09 a.m. in London as policy makers reduced the managed currency’s pace of appreciation. Australia’s dollar advanced versus the greenback after inflation accelerated. Nasdaq 100 Index futures increased 1.2 percent as Apple, the biggest stock on the gauge, traded more than 5 percent above its closing price, and contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index added 0.8 percent. U.S. crude fell for the fourth time in five days.
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Singapore’s policy makers joined global peers in seeking to counter deflationary pressures as investors await commentary from a Federal Reserve meeting in Washington. Australia’s core consumer prices rose more than forecast last quarter, easing pressure on the central bank to further reduce record-low interest rates. Post-market gains in Apple and Yahoo! Inc., which announced a spinoff of its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., came after the biggest drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in three weeks.
Singapore’s move “was prompted by similar moves by the Swiss, Canadians and the Indians and weakening commodity prices,” Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. in Singapore, said by phone. “Core inflation the last few months has been running below forecast and with the dollar projected to remain strong, they decided to move a little bit earlier rather than wait for April.”
