Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.11%

Pullback on Wall Street will bring no cheer to local bourse today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 3.61 points or 0.11% lower to 3224.1 on Wednesday, taking the year-to-date performance to +11.92%.

According to SGX Market Summary, the top active stocks were DBS, which gained 0.73%, Singtel, which gained 0.54%, Noble Group, which gained 5.30%, OCBC Bank, which declined 1.14% and UOB, with a 0.47% fall.

OCBC Investment Research said this came as the US stock market booked its worst daily decline in months, as concerns about President Donald Trump's FBI controversy weighed on investor sentiment.

Meanwhile, nine out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, led by Financials (-3.04%) and Information Technology (-2.79%) while Real Estate (0.61%) and Utilities (0.25%) gained.

Here's more from OCBC Investment Research:

The plunge on Wall Street overnight is likely to weigh heavily on the local sentiment today.

We expect the downside momentum to continue today with the index sliding further south in the direction of the 3200 immediate support level.

On the upside, the initial hurdle remains at 3250. Above it, we keep the next resistance at 3300.

Overall volume rose 0.9% with 2.3b units traded, while total value dipped 6.0% to S$1.3b, and average value/unit fell 6.8% to S$0.56.