Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.2%

Expect muted gains today

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 6.87 or 0.2% lower at 3,393.33.

The top active stocks were DBS, which crashed 2.3%, OCBC Bank, which went up 0.33%, UOB, which grew 0.07%, Venture, which jumped 2.53%, and CapitaLand which rose 0.28%.

The FTSE Mid Cap grew 0.41% whilst the FTSE Small Cap dipped 0.09%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, stocks closed lower Thursday afternoon, but off the sessions worst levels, building on losses from the previous session in apparent response to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s failure to affirm market expectations the next move in rates would be a cut.

Eight out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Energy (-1.71%) and Materials (-0.54%) whilst Health Care (0.47%) led the gains.

“Today’s sentiment is likely to remain soft, following the lackluster performances on Wall Street overnight,” OIR said.