Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 1.03%

Investors are cautious as they await the Fed's rate decisions.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 36.72 points or 1.03% higher to 3613.93, taking the year-to-date performance to +6.20%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 2.80%, OCBC Bank, which gained 1.10%, UOB, which gained 2.38%, Singtel, which gained 0.86% and Venture, with a 2.10% fall.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.40%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index rose 0.43%.

OCBC Investment Research noted that US stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday, as a sharp rally in technology stocks helped the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shake off an early decline. However, the Dow fell for a third straight session as caution remained high ahead of the conclusion of a Federal Reserve policy meeting and fresh developments in global trade.

Five out of 11 S&P 500 industries ended higher. The best performers were Information Technology (1.46%) and Real Estate (0.68%) whilst worst performers were Consumer Staples (-0.88%) and Telecommunication Services (-0.77%).

"Today’s tone is likely to be cautious as investors’ focus turn to the Federal Reserve meeting for rate decisions," OCBC said.