Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.12%

Investors should remain cautious today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 3.75 points or 0.12% lower to 3143.4 on Tuesday, taking the year-to-date performance to +9.12%.

The top active stocks were Keppel Corp, which declined 2.22%; Singtel, which declined 0.25%; DBS, which gained 0.42%; Global Logistic, which gained 0.36%; and UOB, with a 0.23% advance.

OCBC said this came as US stocks finished lower as a persistent slump in oil prices put pressure on energy shares, whilst investors were also making guarded moves as the Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting got underway.

Meanwhile, ten out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower, with energy (-1.10%) and industrials (-0.91%) leading the declines whilst consumer discretionary (0.02%) was the sole gainer.

Here are the implications on Singapore:

The lacklustre showing on Wall Street overnight and the FOMC rate decision could cause investors to remain cautious again today.

As before, we expect the market to be range-bound between 3100 and 3150 for now; and see the next resistance and support level at 3180 and 3060, respectively.

Overall volume shrank further 6.5%, dropping to 2.1b units, whilst total value gained 3% to S$1.2b, and average value/unit rose 10.1% to S$0.56.