Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.1%

Expect a modest boost from Wall Street today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 3.35 points or 0.1% lower to 3213.57 on Tuesday, taking the year-to-date performance to +11.55%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 0.77%, Singtel, which gained 0.27%, SATS, which declined 3.97%, OCBC Bank, which declined 1.06% and SIA, with a 1.90% fall.

This came as U.S. stock-index benchmarks closed higher Tuesday, marking a fourth straight session in the green following the White House’s release of its 2018 budget proposal, OCBC Investment Research said.

Meanwhile, ten out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, with Financials (0.81%) and Health Care (0.35%) leading the gains while Consumer Discretionary (-0.40%) bucked the trend.

Here's more from the brokerage firm:

The persistent gains on Wall Street overnight could provide a modest boost to the local bourse this morning.

On the upside, we continue to peg the initial hurdle at 3250, ahead of 3300; on the downside, we keep the immediate support at 3200, ahead of 3170.

Overall volume shrank 2.0% with 2.0b units traded, while total value gained 0.6% to S$1.1b, and average value/unit rose 2.6% to S$0.56.

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