Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.37%

Wall Street's softness could mute gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 11.11 or 0.37% higher at 3,052.49.

The top active stocks were UOB, which advanced 0.15%, Singtel, which rose 0.02%, DBS, which gained 0.08%, OCBC, which grew 0.09%, and United Engineers, with a 0.04% advance.

The FTSE Mid Cap rose 1.10% whilst the FTSE Small Cap gained 0.70%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, US stocks closed lower, pressured again by falling oil prices, which drove the indexes to weekly losses of more than 3.5%—the second straight week of declines.

Eight out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Energy (-3.26%) and Communication Services (-1.19%), while Consumer Staples (0.34%) led the gains. For the week, the index retreated 3.79%.

"The weakness on Wall Street last Friday is likely to keep local sentiment soft today," OIR said.