Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 1.08%

Expect limited gains in the near term.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 30.36 points or 1.08% lower to 2789.88 on Wednesday, taking the year-to-date performance to -3.22%.

According to OCBC Investment Research, this came as U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday, with the Dow industrials jumping 257 points, led by a surge in financial, health-care and industrial stocks, as investors bet on the infrastructure spending policy promised by President-elect Donald Trump.

Seven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Financials (4.07%) and Health Care (3.43%) while Utilities (-3.68%) and Real Estate (-2.28%) led the losses.

However, despite the rally on Wall Street overnight, local sentiment is likely to remain cautious, limiting near-term upside.

Here's more from OCBC:

Gold for Dec delivery fell US$1.00, or 0.08%, to close at US$1273.50/ounce while Dec Silver gained 2 cents, or 0.12%, to settle at US$18.38/ounce.

Overall volume surged 28.9% with 2.7b units traded, and the total value jumped 60.1% to S$1.9b; while average value/unit was up 24.2% to S$0.68.

Overall market breadth is negative with losers outpaced gainers 2.6 to 1.

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