Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.7%

Don't expect any gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 25.35 points or 0.7% lower to 3573.38, taking the year-to-date performance to +5.01%.

The top active stocks were Venture, which declined 12.25%, DBS, which declined 1.07%, UOB, which declined 0.30%, Keppel Corp, which gained 1.74% and OCBC Bank, with a 0.07% fall.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.59%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.22%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks extended losses in late trade to end lower on Friday, as weakness in technology and consumer staples shares offset the latest batch of corporate earnings, which largely continued to beat expectations.

Ten out of 11 S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Consumer Staples (-1.68%) and Information Technology (-1.51%) whilst Financials (0.05%) was the sole gainer. The index advanced 0.52% for the week.

"Continued weakness on Wall Street Friday is likely to weigh further on local sentiment today," OCBC said.