Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 1.17%

Expect some gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 39.97 points or 1.17% higher to 3467.48, taking the year-to-date performance to +1.90%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 1.77%, UOB. OCBC Bank, Singtel, and Capitaland were also top gainers with an advance of 1.74%, 1.92%, 0.62%, and 0.29%, respectively.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.60%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index rose 0.22%.

OCBC Investment Research noted that U.S. stocks posted solid gains, led by a rally in the technology and consumer discretionary sectors, as traders appeared to shrug off global trade tensions and focused on a favorable economic backdrop instead.

Seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Consumer Discretionary (1.13%) and Real Estate (0.97%) while Energy (-0.92%) and Utilities (-0.85%) led the losses.

“Continued strength on Wall Street overnight amidst optimism over the U.S job data could bring some cheer to the local bourse this morning,” OCBC Investment Research said.