Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.5%

Analyst predicts stronger opening today.

Singapore Exchange noted:

The FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) ended +15.62 points higher or +0.51% higher to 3,089.93, taking the year-to-date performance to -2.44%.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained +0.38% while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined -0.14%.

The top active stocks were Singtel (+2.00%), DBS (+2.23%), Wilmar (-0.95%), UOB (+1.29%), and OCBC Bk (+1.74%).

OCBC Investment Research said:

The modest rebound on Wall Street overnight and the positive Nikkei start (up 1.1% now) are likely to cue the local bourse to a stronger opening this morning.

This could help push the STI back in the direction of the 3100 today; however, it could be an uphill task to overcome the many obstacles that lie ahead as sentiments are still fairly weak at the moment.

Beyond the 3100 immediate hurdle, the next resistance lies at the 3230 support-turned-resistance.

On the downside, 3000 is still the immediate key psychological support, with the next support pegged at the 2930 key troughs.