Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.10%

Expect muted gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 3.17 or 0.10% higher at 3,330.82.

The top active stocks were UOB, which dipped 0.11%, Singtel, which grew 1.93%, DBS, which fell 0.15%, OCBC Bank, which rose 0.09%, and Genting Sing, which remained unchanged.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), the S&P 500 eked out gains but stocks closed mostly lower as investors struggled to identify catalysts to drive the market ahead of the unofficial start of the corporate earnings season Friday.

Seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Industrials (0.88%) and Financials (0.56%) whilst Health Care (-1.21%) and Real Estate (-0.14%) led the losses.

“The local sentiment should continue to be fairly soft given the lack of strong positive signals. Attention would likely be shifted to the just released 1Q19 GDP and the MAS monetary policy,” OIR said.