Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.53%

Wall Street's mixed performances won't provide much cues for the local market.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 17.14 points or 0.53% higher to 3254.19, taking the year-to-date performance to +12.96%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 1.22%, Singtel, which declined 0.53%, OCBC Bank, which gained 0.76%, UOB, which gained 1.20% and CapitaLand, with a 0.55% fall. The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.12%, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.05%. 

According to OCBC Investment Research, the Dow closed at a record on Friday even as the Nasdaq skidded nearly 2% as the technology sector abruptly fell in afternoon trade.

Seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Energy (2.48%) and Financials (1.93%) while Information Technology (-2.74%) led the declines. The index retreated 0.30% for the week.

Here are the implications for Singapore according to OCBC:

The mixed performances on Wall Street Friday are unlikely to provide much in terms of cues for the local bourse this morning.

While the STI managed to take out the 3250 initial resistance last Friday, it remains to see if it could hold and sustain above this level convincingly.

We peg the immediate resistance at 3290, ahead of 3330 for now; on the downside, we peg the immediate support at 3235, ahead of 3200.

Overall volume climbed 7.2% with 2.0b units traded, and total value jumped 24.0% to S$1.1b, while average value/unit rose 15.7% to S$0.54.