Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.20%

Sustained Wall Street weakness could mute gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 6.57 or 0.20% higher at 3,243.32, taking the year-to-date performance to +50.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 4.14%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index advanced 2.16%.

The top active stocks were UOB, CityDev, DBS, and OCBC Bank.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks closed lower with almost all S&P 500 sectors falling in what some strategists described as a typical late-summer session characterised by low trading volumes.

Ten out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, with Materials (-0.70%) and Energy (-0.52%) leading the declines, whilst Information Technology (0.18%) was the sole gainer.

"Continued weakness on Wall Street overnight could cause investors to be cautious today, ahead of an address from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday," OCBC Investment Research commented.