Daily Markets Briefing: STI down 0.21%

Local bourse could remain cautious today.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 6.7 points or 0.21% lower to 3174.75 on Tuesday, taking the year-to-date performance to +10.21%.

The top active stocks were DBS, which gained 0.16%; OCBC Bank, which declined 0.62%; CapitaLand, which declined 0.54%; UOB, which closed unchanged; and Singtel, with a 0.26% fall.

OCBC Investment Research said this came as US stocks pared losses to close with small losses as investors remained cautious over assets perceived as risky, such as equities, on rising geopolitical tensions.

Meanwhile, seven out of eleven S&P 500 industries ended lower. The best performer was Real Estate (0.42%) and the worst performer was Information Technology (-0.44%).

Here’s more from OCBC Investment Research:

The lacklustre showing on Wall Street overnight could cause local sentiment to remain cautious today.

We expect the STI to remain largely range-bound between 3150 and 3200 for now.

Meanwhile, we keep the next support and resistance level at 3100 and 3270, respectively.

Overall volume climbed 14.8% with 2.3b units traded, and total value jumped 16.2% to $1.1b, whilst average value/unit rose 1.3% to $0.47.