Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 1.2%

Wall Street's weakness could weign on the local bourse today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 39.22 or 1.2% lower at 3,234.28.

The top active stocks were DBS, which dipped 2.07%, OCBC Bank, which went down 1.67%, UOB, which slipped 1.68%, ThaiBev, which crashed 7.27%, and Genting Sing which fell 2.67%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), US stocks closed sharply lower Monday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow logging their worst day since Jan. 3, as China moved to raise tariffs on US goods and take other retaliatory measures after Washington last week increased duties on Chinese imports.

Nine out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, with Information Technology (-3.71%) and Consumer Discretionary (-2.95%) leading the declines whilst Utilities (1.11%) led the gains.

“The weakness on Wall Street overnight over trade tensions could continue to weigh on local sentiment today,” OIR said.