Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 1.26%

Find out which firms underperformed.

According to KGI Fraser, Asian markets cheered the U.S. Fed's dovish stance, with the STI (+1.2%) tracking gains in the Hang Seng (+1.2%), Shanghai (+1.2%) and the Shenzhen (+3%) indexes.

In local markets, gainers outnumbered losers two to one as a broad based recovery among the STI constituents were led by Genting Singapore (+3.8%), Noble (+3.6%), Sembcorp Industries (+3.3%) and GLP (+2.7%), KGI Fraser said.

Here’s more from KGI Fraser:

Investors risk appetite returned for commodities related counters while gold futures rallied past $1,260 an ounce.

Oil prices rose above US$40 following news that OPEC and non-OPEC producers were set to meet next month to discuss a potential deal, with 17 April being the key date to watch.

In the broader market, investors piled into health care related stocks with shares of IHC (+43%), UG Healthcare (+13%), Healthway Medical (+12%) and Medtec Int'l (+10%) all gaining between 10% and 43%.