Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.8%

Don’t expect gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 25.24 or 0.8% lower at 3,117.76.

The top active stocks were DBS, which crashed 1.26%, UOB, which fell 1.63%, OCBC Bank, which dipped 1.58%, Singtel, which remained unchanged, and ST Engineering, which remained flat.

The FTSE Mid Cap fell 0.24% whilst the FTSE Small Cap slipped 0.48%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), stocks closed sharply lower, with the market logging its worst May since 2010, after President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced plans to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico in an attempt to pressure the country to stem the flow of migrants across the US border.

Nine out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Communication Services (-2.04%) and Energy (-1.62%) whilst Real Estate (0.77%) and Utilities (0.44%) ended higher. The index posted 6.58% monthly losses.

“We expect today’s tone to be soft as trade relations remain front and center of investors’ minds,” OIR said.