Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.9%

Expect some good news today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 30.19 points or 0.9% higher to 3386.44, taking the year-to-date performance to +17.55%.

The top active stocks were Global Logistic, which gained 0.91%, DBS, which gained 1.48%, Singtel, which gained 0.80%, OCBC Bank, which gained 1.99% and Keppel Corp, with a 0.81% advance.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.06%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.04%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at records on Friday, fueled by large gains in technology shares following better-than-expected quarterly results from heavyweights Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Intel Corp.

Six out of 11 S&P 500 industries finished higher, led by Information Technology, which gained 2.91%, and Consumer Discretionary, which gained 1.60%, whilst Consumer Staples, which fell 0.86%, and Materials, which fell 0.54%, led the losses. The index advanced 0.23% for the week.

"Continued gains on Wall Street Friday could keep local sentiment fairly upbeat this morning," OCBC said.