Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.35%

Expect a limited upside in the local markets today.

The STI ended 9.76 points or 0.35% higher to 2815.24, taking the year-to-date performance to -2.34%.

This came as US stocks closed on a high note in Friday, with a trio of quarterly bank results topped analyst estimates.

According to OCBC Investment Research, five of the 11 S&P 500 industries ended higher, with Financials leading the gains while Health Care led the declines. The index was down 0.96% for the week.

The brokerage firm said these gains on Wall Street could provide some cheers to the local bourse today. However, with the lack of a strong catalyst, near term upside is limited.

Here's more from OCBC:

Nov WTI Crude lost 9 cents, or 0.18%, to close at US$50.35/barrel while Dec Brent was down 8 cents, or 0.15%, to end at US$51.95/barrel. For the week, WTI and Brent gained 1.08% and 0.04% respectively.

Gold for Dec delivery fell US$2.10, or 0.17%, to close at US$1255.50/ounce while Dec Silver shed 2 cents, or 0.10%, to settle at US$17.44/ounce. For the week, Gold and Silver rose by 0.29% and 0.35% each.

Overall volume gained 4.9% with 2.7b units traded, and the total value dropped 10.6% to S$1.1b; while average value/unit fell 13.9% to S$0.43.