Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.1%

Any boost will be limited today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 2.86 points or 0.1% higher to 3011.08 on Friday, taking the year-to-date performance to +4.45%.

The top active stocks today were DBS, which declined 0.06%, Singtel, which gained 0.79%, UOB, which declined 0.39%, OCBC Bank, which closed unchanged and CapitaLand, with a 0.31% advance.

OCBC said this came as U.S. stocks finished higher, starting the Donald Trump presidency in the green, but the Dow & S&P 500 logged their second straight weekly decline as uncertainty about the new administration lingered.

Meanwhile, nine out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Materials (0.87%) and Telecommunication Services (0.86%) while Health Care (-0.29%) and Industrials (-0.04%) lost ground. The index was down 0.15% for the week.

"Despite the rebound on Wall Street Friday, the local sentiment is likely to remain cautious amid uncertainty over new administration, limiting any near term upside," OCBC said.

Here's more from OCBC:

Overall market breadth is slightly negative, with losers outpacing gainers 1.2 to 1 even though the STI ended higher.

As before, we peg the initial hurdle at 3040, ahead of its subsequent base at 3065. On the downside, we peg the immediate support at 2980, ahead of 2940.

Overall volume climbed 24.6% with 2.4b units traded, while total value fell 4.9% to S$0.9b, and average value/unit dipped 23.7% to S$0.37.

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