Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 1.05%

Expect more gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 35.81 points or 1.05% higher to 3460.45, taking the year-to-date performance to +20.12%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 0.97%, Singtel, which declined 0.27%, ComfortDelGro, which gained 6.28%, UOB, which gained 2.63% and OCBC Bank, with a 1.21% advance.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.66%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index rose 0.22%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks finished higher Monday, with the S&P 500 index and Dow industrials closing at records on the back of a rally in telecommunications and technology shares.

Nine out of 11 S&P 500 industries finished higher. The best performers were Telecommunication Services, which rose 1.18%, and Information Technology, which rose 0.81%, whilst Financials, which fell 0.24%, and Industrials, which fell 0.21%, lost ground.

"Continued gains on Wall Street overnight should bring more cheer to the local bourse, but further strong gains may be limited after the STI’s approximately 2% gains over the past 2 sessions," OCBC said.