Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.08%

But expect a lift from Wall Street today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 2.44 points or 0.08% lower to 3221.66 on Thursday, taking the year-to-date performance to +11.83%. 

According to SGX Market Summary, the top active stocks were Singtel, which gained 0.27%, DBS, which declined 0.82%, Noble, which declined 2.16%, OCBC Bank, which declined 0.38% and UOB, with a 0.86% advance.

This came as U.S. stocks closed higher, following the previous session’s brutal selloff, as positive data offered a glimmer of optimism and technology provided an additional fillip to the market, OCBC Investment Research said.

Meanwhile, ten out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Telecommunication Services (1.21%) and Consumer Discretionary (0.60%) while Energy (-0.11%) bucked the trend.

Here's more from OCBC Investment Research:

The recovery on Wall Street overnight could provide a lift to the local bourse this morning.

On the upside, we continue to peg the initial hurdle at 3250, ahead of 3300; on the downside, we keep the immediate support at 3200, followed by the next support level at 3170.

Overall volume tumbled 20.2% with 1.8b units traded, while total value gained 1.7% to S$1.3b, and average value/unit climbed 27.4% to S$0.71.