STI down 0.5% as trio of local banks end in the red

Markets spooked by prospect of tariffs in Trump presidency | Nasdaq down 2.8%, its biggest one-day drop since Dec 2022 | Singtel tops Singapore index, gaining 1.3% to $3.06

- Joan Ng

Increasing fears in the United States that an upcoming Donald Trump administration might begin to erect punishing tariff barriers hit Wall Street and shares across the region on July 18.

The immediate effect was to send the big tech firms tumbling in New York overnight, driving the Nasdaq down 2.8 per cent, its biggest one-day decline since December 2022.