Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.17%

Expect muted gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 6.16 points or 0.17% higher to 3579.54, taking the year-to-date performance to +5.19%.

The top active stocks were UOB, which declined 0.20%, DBS, which gained 0.14%, OCBC Bank, which declined 0.22%, Venture, which gained 1.11% and Keppel Corp, with a 0.97% advance.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.02%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.15%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks ended the session little changed Monday as investors grappled with rising bond yields and a mixed bag of earnings reports.

Six out of 11 S&P 500 industries ended higher. The best performers were Telecommunication Services (1.08%) and Energy (0.61%). The worst performers were Information Technology (-0.40%) and Materials (-0.30%).

"We expect the local bourse to trade with a soft tone today, as investors remain focused on the U.S. Treasury market," OCBC said.