Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.07%

The additional China tariff announcement delay may boost local sentiment.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 2.45 or 0.07% higher at 3,272.35.

The top active stocks were UOB, which dropped 0.74%, Venture, which climbed 12.28%, OCBC, which dropped 0.53%, DBS, which rose 0.68%, and Best World with an 18.45% fall.

The FTSE Mid Cap grew 0.46% whilst the FTSE Small Cap declined 0.87%.

According to OCBC Investment Research (OIR), US stocks came off earlier highs but still closed higher Monday after president Donald Trump tweeted that he would delay additional China tariffs and that there had been “substantial progress” in trade talks over the weekend.

Seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Materials (0.65%) and Information Technology (0.50%). Real Estate (-0.81%) and Utilities (-0.64%) led the losses.

"Continued gains on Wall Street overnight after the delay of tariff deadline are likely to keep the local sentiment fairly positive today," OIR said.