Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.4%

Investors are urged to take caution.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 13.26 points or 0.4% lower at 3326.74, taking the year-to-date performance to -2.24%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which declined 2.95%, OCBC Bank, which declined 0.42%, YZJ Shipbldg SGD, which gained 8.79%, UOB, which gained 1.14% and CapitaLand, with a 1.23% advance.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.29%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.47%.  

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Thursday as weak energy and industrial shares weighed on the market, but the Nasdaq bucked the trend to rise for an eighth straight session, logging its best winning streak since October, according to OCBC Investment Research. 

Six out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, with Energy (-0.89%) and Industrials (-0.57%) leading the declines whilst Telecommunication Services (0.98%) and Materials (0.50%) led the gains.

"We expect the local bourse to trade with a cautious tone today, following the lackluster performances on Wall Street overnight amidst intensifying trade disputes," OIR added.