Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.14%

Investors are urged to remain cautious today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 5.02 points or 0.14% higher to 3584.56, taking the year-to-date performance to +5.34%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 1.22%, Venture, which declined 8.49%, OCBC Bank, which gained 0.29%, ThaiBev, which gained 8.70% and UOB, with a 0.20% advance.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.19%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.13%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks closed sharply lower Tuesday, as rising bond yields spooked investors.

Eight out of 11 S&P 500 industries ended lower, with Industrials (-2.82%) and Materials (-2.69%) leading the declines. Telecommunication Services (1.17%) and Utilities (0.65%) led the gains.

"The weakness on Wall Street overnight could cause local sentiment to remain cautious today," OCBC said.