Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.72%

Don't expect gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 22.83 or 0.72% lower at 3,167.79.

The top active stocks were DBS, which fell 0.15%, UOB and Singtel, which both dipped 0.02%, OCBC, which slipped 0.05%, and Genting Sing, with a 0.02% fall.

The FTSE Mid Cap fell 6.96% whilst the FTSE Small Cap dipped 1.73%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), US stocks finished sharply lower, logging their worst day in nearly a month, as scepticism mounted over the significance of an agreement reached by the US and China to postpone new tariffs and as the market digested a flattening yield curve in US government debt.

Ten out of eleven of the S&P 500 industries closed lower, with Financials (-4.40%) and Industrials (-4.35%) leading the declines while Utilities (0.15%) gained.T

"The weakness on Wall Street overnight is likely to weigh on local sentiment, as investors await more development from the US-China trade negotiations," OIR commented.