Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.1%

Discover who the top gainers were.

According to KGI Frraser, the STI (2882pts; +0.09%) bucked regional trends to close slightly in the green after a positive push from the three new index constituents. Shares of SATS ($3.91; +2.9%), Yangzijiang ($1.19; +2.2%) and UOL ($6.08; +1%) were among the top gainers in the index.

Here's more from KGI Fraser:

However, overall market sentiments remained cautious with financials and commodity firms leading the decliners.

Lingering concerns mainly revolved around China's slowing growth and impact on emerging markets. But according to the latest update of the China Beige Book (CCB) survey of 2,100 companies in China, the current pessimism on the country is unwarranted and found that while the economy has indeed slowed down in the recent quarter, there were no signs of a collapse in growth.

According to the CCB, while manufacturing has remained a weak spot, other sectors, including services saw improvements. 

A reading on the Chinese Manufacturing activity for September is due Wednesday that may provide investors with more color on China's economy.

Meanwhile, US markets managed to eke out small gains but was off their highs after healthcare stocks came under selling pressure. A rally in crude oil prices helped energy stocks close higher as traders bet on further declines in crude production.