Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.5%

Expect muted gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 16.6 or 0.5% higher at 3,348.64.

The top active stocks were DBS, which grew 1.21%, UOB, which went up 0.79%, SingTel, which dipped 0.32%, OCBC Bank, which increased 0.26%, and Keppel Corp, which jumped 2.27%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), US stocks closed lower as the health-care sector slumped on concerns over potential adverse impact from future policy changes. Investors also parsed a steady stream of corporate earnings and the latest snapshot of the economy via the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.

Six out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Information Technology (0.58%) and Consumer Staples (0.36%) whilst Health Care (-2.89%) and Real Estate (-0.99%) led the losses.

"We think the local sentiment will be relatively muted today ahead of the holiday tomorrow. Progress on the trade talks did not seem to move the markets much and we think this will likely be the same for the STI," OIR said.