Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.77%

Expect muted gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 24.80 or 0.77% lower at 3,205.46.

The top active stocks were DBS, which crashed 2.6%, OCBC Bank, which dipped 0.62%, UOB, which went down 0.72%, Singtel, which remained unchanged, and Genting Sing, which fell 1.11%.

The FTSE Mid Cap slipped 0.67% whilst the FTSE Small Cap dipped 0.13%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), US stocks closed lower Monday as souring US-China trade relations continued to weigh on sentiment, with technology shares taking the brunt of the selling pressure.

Eight out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Information Technology (-1.75%) and Real Estate (-1.62%). The best performers were Utilities (0.17%) and Financials (0.13%).

“Today’s sentiment is likely to remain cautious as U.S-China tech tensions rise over the sanctions on Huawei,” OIR said.