SINGAPORE (April 30): Singapore shares pared losses as weak economic data in the US raised hopes that the Federal Reserve would delay raising interest rates until at least later this year.

Stocks spent most of the session under water after official data released overnight showed the world's biggest economy grew only 0.2% in 1Q2015.

"In November and December, the consensus growth (estimate) for the US was 3.5% to 4%. Now, less than four month into the year, we again have zero sign of recovery," Steen Jakobsen, chief investment officer at Saxo Bank, wrote in a note to clients.

In a statement issued overnight after the end of its two-day policy meeting, the Fed acknowledged the weakness in the US economy, noting that the pace of job gains had moderated.

"The balanced and cautious tone in the statement is a far cry from the optimism and (over)confidence that we have seen in previous statements," Philip Marey, senior US strategist at Rabobank, said in a note.

"This suggests that the large majority of doves in the committee is in no hurry to hike and instead is waiting for solid evidence that the economic recovery can actually deal with a rate hike."

The Straits Times Index ended little changed at 3,487.39 after reaching an intraday low of 3,467.

Volume was lighter than usual, ahead of Friday's Labour Day holiday, with 1.38 billion shares worth $1.47 billion changing hands.

Decliners outnumbered gainers 223 to 200.

Not surprisingly, stocks that went ex-dividend today tumbled.

These included Chip Eng Seng, down 6.8% at 89 cents; CWT, down 2.8% at $1.92; Mewah International, down 2.7% at 35.5 cents; OCBC, down 1.8% at $10.68; and Starhub, down 1.6% at $4.23.

Indofood Agri Resources fell 1.4% to 73 cents after the palm oil producer said its 1Q2015 earnings tumbled 81% y-o-y to IDR35 billion ($3.6 million) on lower selling prices and sales volumes and foreign-exchange losses.

GCCP Resources, which made its trading debut today, ended at 15.1 cents, down from its IPO price of 23 cents.

Boustead Projects, which also debuted today, opened at 88 cents and ended at $1.045. Boustead Projects, the real estate arm of Boustead Singapore, came to market through a distribution in specie by its parent.