Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.49%

Expect more cheers in the market today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 15.74 points or 0.49% higher to 3247.18 on Monday, taking the year-to-date performance to +12.72%.

The top active stocks were Singtel, which closed unchanged, Ascendas REIT, which declined 0.73%, UOB, which gained 1.18%, DBS, which gained 0.73% and Noble, with a 46.15% advance.

OCBC Investment Research said this came as U.S. stocks rose, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 ending at new records as technology shares rebounded from a recent bout of sharp weakness to lead the market higher.

Meanwhile, eight out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Information Technology (1.66%) and Health Care (1.08%) while Energy (-0.68%) led the declines.

"The gains on Wall Street overnight could provide some cheer to the local sentiment, potentially extending the STI’s 0.5% gains in the previous session," it said.