Daily Markets Briefing: STI up 1.42%

US' move to release the list of US$200b more goods for tariffs could mute gains today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 46.01 points or 1.42% higher at 3274.83, taking the year-to-date performance to -3.76%.

The top active stocks today were DBS, which gained 2.30%, UOB, which rose 1.81%, SingTel, which closed unchanged, OCBC Bank, which gained 2.21% and CityDev, with a 0.62% advance. 

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained 0.84%, whilst the FTSE ST Small Cap Index rose 0.71%. 

OCBC Investment Research noted that US stocks marked a fourth straight finish firmly as Wall Street shifted from consternation over global trade disputes to enthusiasm over the coming second-quarter earnings results following a string of strong economic data that has refreshed investor optimism.

Ten out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Consumer Staples (1.26%) and Telecommunication Services (1.13%) while Financials (-0.37%) bucked the trend.                                       

"Despite the gains on Wall Street overnight, we expect the local sentiment to be cautious today after US released a list of $200 billion more goods for tariffs," OCBC Investment Research said.