Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.31%

Don't expect any boost today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 9.83 points or 0.31% higher to 3173.76, taking the year-to-date performance to +10.17%.

The top active stocks were UOB, which declined 1.05%, DBS, which gained 0.57%, Singtel, which declined 0.27%, OCBC Bank, which gained 0.52% and CapitaLand, with a 1.36% advance.

According to OCBC Investment Research, this came as US stocks closed fractionally lower, retreating from intraday highs after an outline of President Donald Trump’s tax plan was seen as light on detail.

Meanwhile, seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, with Real Estate (-0.85%) and Consumer Staples (-0.81%) leading the declines while Telecommunication Services (1.23%) led the gains.

Here's more from OCBC Investment Research:

The mild pullback on Wall Street overnight is unlikely to provide much of a boost to the local bourse this morning.

We keep the initial hurdle at 3180, ahead of 3200; on the downside, we peg the immediate support at 3140, followed by the next support at 3100.

Overall volume shrank 1.60% with 2.7b units traded, while total value climbed 11.8% to S$1.3b, and average value/unit jumped 13.7% to S$0.50.