Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.07%

But expect a boost today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 2.01 points or 0.07% lower to 3039.94 on Wednesday, taking the year-to-date performance to +5.45%.

The top active stocks today were DBS, which gained 1.02%, Singtel, which gained 0.52%, OCBC Bank, which declined 0.43%, Global Logistic, which closed unchanged and UOB, with a 0.14% advance.

According to OCBC Investment Research, this came as the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday both crossed and closed above the 20,000 level for the first time, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also cruised to records after upbeat earnings releases from heavyweights such as Boeing Co. and optimism over the economy.

Meanwhile, eight out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, with Financials (1.65%) leading the gains while Real Estate (-0.61%) led the declines.

"The continued rally on Wall Street overnight could provide a modest boost to the local bourse today," OCBC said.

Here's more from OCBC:

As a recap, the STI failed to hold its ground and sustain itself above 3040 yesterday. But with today’s tone generally supportive, we could see the index make another attempt to overcome it and heading towards the 3065 initial hurdle.

On the downside, we keep the immediate support level at 3000, ahead of the subsequent base at 2940.

Overall volume tumbled 17.5% with 1.9b units traded, while total value was relatively unchanged with S$1.3b traded, and average value/unit gained 21.2% to S$0.69.

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