(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has finished lower now in back-to-back sessions, shedding more than 30 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index is clinging to support at the 2,620-point plateau, and now analysts are expecting the market to hover around that level at the opening of trade on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly flat with a touch of upside, drawing support from commodities after a fresh record high for gold was reached. Technology stocks and properties also are likely to move higher. The European markets finished sharply lower and the U.S. bourses ended mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished modestly lower on Tuesday, as the telecoms were down and the financials were mostly lower.

For the day, the index declined 23.88 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 2,621.55 after trading between 2,621.55 and 2,657.57. Volume was 1.28 billion shares worth 1.22 billion Singapore dollars. There were 388 decliners and 122 gainers, with 749 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Singapore Telecommunications, DBS Group Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp ended lower, while United Overseas Bank and Singapore Airlines were higher.

Wall Street provides little guidance as stocks saw a choppy trading session on Tuesday, despite some signs of life on the M&A front and positive news on factory orders. The major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged mark as some traders preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the release of key economic reports in the second half of the week.

In M&A news, Berkshire Hathaway entered an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe it does not already own for $100 per share. The transaction is valued at approximately $44 billion and is the largest ever made by Warren Buffet’s firm.

Further, power tool maker Stanley Works and Black & Decker Corp. said that they have entered into a merger agreement to create Stanley Black & Decker, an $8.4 billion global industrial leader, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4.5 billion.

Amid a relatively light day on the economic front, the Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods increased by a little more than expected in the month of September.

Factory orders increased by 0.9 percent in September following an unrevised 0.8 percent decrease in August. The increase in orders came in slightly above economist estimates for an increase of about 0.8 percent.

The major averages continued their sideways movement in late day trading, finishing on a mixed note. While the Dow fell by 17.53 points or 0.2 percent to 9,771.91, the NASDAQ closed up 8.12 points or 0.4 percent at 2,057.32 and the S&P 500 rose by 2.53 points or 0.2 percent to 1,045.41.

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Posted in Categories: Eurozone, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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