Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.03%

Any upside could be limited.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 0.96 points or 0.03% lower to 3175.59 on Thursday, taking the year-to-date performance to +10.23%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which declined 0.42%; Singtel, which declined 0.26%; CapitaLand, which gained 0.81%; OCBC Bank, which closed unchanged; and Global Logistic, with a 1.09% advance.

According to OCBC Investment Research, this came as US stocks closed off intraday highs as President Donald Trump hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for their first official meeting, as investors sought clues to how the leaders of the world’s economic powerhouses will tackle trade and geopolitical issues.

Meanwhile, seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended higher, led by Energy (0.80%) whilst Telecommunication Services (-1.59%) led the declines.

Here are the implications on Singapore:

Despite the mild recovery on Wall Street overnight, the local sentiment could remain cautious, limiting any upside.

We continue to peg the initial hurdle at 3200, ahead of 3270; on the downside, we maintain the immediate support at 3150, ahead of 3100.

Overall volume was flat with 3.1b units traded, while total value slipped 14.9% to $1.0b, and average value/unit dipped 14.8% to $0.32.