Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 0.95%

Investors are urged to take caution today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 29.65 or 0.95% higher at 3,161.42.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 3.71%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index advanced 1.09%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which rose 0.32%, ST Engineering, which gained 0.24%, Singtel, which inched up 0.04%, UOB, which grew 0.22%, and OCBC, with a 0.03% advance.

OCBC Investment Research noted that US stocks ended essentially unchanged, though slight gains were enough to give the S&P 500 its fifth straight positive session, whilst all three major indexes posted solid weekly gains.

Four out of eleven sectors in the S&P 500 indices closed higher, led by Financials (0.66%) and Energy (0.56%) whilst Real Estate (-0.91%) and Utilities (-0.54%) led the losses. The index gained 1.16% week-on-week.

"The slight increase on Wall Street overnight could be an indicator for the local markets to be cautious as investors ponder over the third round of tariffs," OCBC Investment Research said.