Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.9%

Banks were the biggest gainers.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 26.63 points or 0.92% higher to 2906.8 on Friday, taking the year-to-date performance to +0.83%.

According to the SGX, the top active stocks were DBS, which gained 1.78%, SingTel, which gained 1.83%, OCBC Bank, which gained 1.98%, Wilmar Intl, which gained 1.85% and UOB, with a 0.31% advance.

Here's more from SGX:

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.59%, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index rose 0.16%.

The outperforming sectors today were represented by the FTSE ST Industrials Index, which rose 2.19%. The two biggest stocks of the Index - Jardine Matheson Holdings and Jardine Strategic Holdings – ended 4.03% higher and 1.71% higher respectively.

The underperforming sector was the FTSE ST Technology Index, which slipped 3.91%. Silverlake Axis shares remained unchanged and CSE Global gained 2.17%.