Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.94%

Wall Street gains could uplift the local bourse today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 30.44 or 0.38% lower at 3,213.92.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index fell 1.91%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index slipped -1.35%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which dipped 1.27%, Singtel, which fell 0.92%, OCBC Bank, which slid 1.05%, UOB, which grew 0.04%, and Keppel, with a 1.21% fall.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks finished mostly higher, with the major benchmarks posting strong weekly gains and a strong finish in August.

Six out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Real Estate (0.42%) and Consumer Discretionary (0.37%) whilst Energy (-0.73%) and Utilities (-0.45%) led the declines. The index advanced 3.03% for the month.

"We expect the STI to attempt to claw higher today amidst the modest gains on Wall Street Friday," OCBC Investment Research noted."