[SINGAPORE] The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Thursday (Apr 3) that it stands ready to stabilise markets, in a media release that came shortly after US President Donald Trump announced wide ranging global tariffs.

Investors fled markets in Asia-Pacific, as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Australia markets among others tumbled in response. Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) was an outlier as it held steady.

“MAS stands ready to curb excessive volatility in the Singapore dollar, and to ensure that Singapore’s foreign exchange and money markets continue to function in an orderly manner,” the central bank said in its statement. 

It said that Singapore’s foreign exchange and money markets continued to function normally among current market conditions.

The US dollar initially surged against the Singapore dollar after the first round of tariffs that Trump announced in February. In the past month, however, it lost some steam, declining 0.29 per cent. On Thursday it declined 0.34 per cent against the Singdollar, fetching S$1.3426.

Trump announced imposing wide-ranging tariffs on all countries on early Thursday (Apr 3) morning, with additional customised tariffs on specific countries.

“MAS is closely monitoring developments and assessing the implications for the Singapore economy,” it added in the Thursday statement.

Trump imposed a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all countries and additional country-specific reciprocal tariffs on roughly 60 “worst offenders”. These include Cambodia with the highest rate at 49 per cent, Vietnam facing 46 per cent ...