Singapore Stock Market Due For Support On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 100 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 5,300-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with tech weakness countered by sinking oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The STI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology, financial and industrial sectors.

For the day, the index slumped 72.91 points or 1.36 percent to finish at 5,303.83 after trading between 5,262.85 and 5,354.12.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspiring as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded throughout the session before ending mixed.

The Dow climbed 213.67 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 51,983.98, while the NASDAQ tumbled 272.68 points or 1.07 percent to close at 25,164.32 and the S&P 500 shed 38.67 points or 0.51 percent to end at 7,541.40.

The significant downturn by the NASDAQ came amid continued weakness among tech stocks, as worries about the outlook for the artificial intelligence weighed on the sector once again.

Outside of the tech sector, energy stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 5.1 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday on reports that discussions are ongoing to settle the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $7.76 or 7.45 percent at $96.36 per barrel.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity increased by more than expected in the month of October.