Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.13%

Expect some gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 6.67 or 0.13% higher at 3,356.95.

The top active stocks were Venture, which crashed 9.17%, DBS, which grew 0.59%, UOB, which went up 0.89%, OCBC Bank, which rose 0.34%, and Singtel, which declined 0.32%.

The FTSE Mid Cap fell 0.32% whilst the FTSE Small Cap rose 0.15%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), stocks closed higher Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finishing at records, as stronger-than-expected first-quarter US gross domestic product growth offset the negative impact of disappointing earnings.

Nine out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Health Care (0.96%) and Financials (0.94%) whilst Information Technology (-0.35%) and Energy (-1.21%) bucked the trend. The index advanced 1.20% for the week.

"With the gains on Wall Street Friday, we expect today’s tone likely to remain fairly positive," OIR said.