Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.54%

But brace for a pullback today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 15.32 points or 0.54% higher to 2874.65 on Monday, taking the year-to-date performance to -0.28%.

This came as U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday as investors found few reasons to keep pushing shares higher following an extended rally that took major indexes to a string of records and lifted major indices for three straight weeks, OCBC Investment Research said.

Seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Financials (-1.39%) and Energy (-1.31%) while Utilities (1.98%) led gains.

This pullback could spark a similar correction in the local bourse today.

Here's more from OCBC:

Gold for Feb delivery rose US$12.80, or 1.08%, to close at US$1193.80/ounce while Mar Silver increased by 12 cents, or 0.73%, to settle at US$16.68/ounce.

As before, we peg the initial hurdle at 2875, ahead of 2900; on the downside, we peg the immediate support at 2825, ahead of 2800.

Overall volume shrank 14.9% with 1.4b units traded, and the total value fell 7.6% to S$1.1; while average value/unit rose 8.7% to S$0.76.

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