The Singapore stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 20 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just beneath the 3,120-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, likely led lower by weakness from the oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.
The STI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financial shares and industrials were mitigated by support from the property sector.
For the day, the index lost 15.66 points or 0.50 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,119.95 after peaking at 3,161.95. Volume was 1.7 billion shares worth 848.3 million Singapore dollars. There were 253 decliners and 202 gainers.
Among the actives, Ascendas REIT skidded 0.68 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust added 0.49 percent, City Developments advanced 0.72 percent, Dairy Farm International plunged 1.34 percent, DBS Group eased 0.19 percent, Genting Singapore sank 0.63 percent, Keppel Corp tanked 1.15 percent, Mapletree Commercial Trust surrendered 0.98 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust tumbled 1.05 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell 0.44 percent, SATS shed 0.51 percent, SembCorp Industries plummeted 2.49 percent, Singapore Airlines rose 0.20 percent, Singapore Exchange dropped 0.53 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering slid 0.26 percent, SingTel retreated 0.82 percent, Thai Beverage jumped 1.50 percent, United Overseas Bank declined 0.86 percent, Wilmar International lost 0.48 percent and Comfort DelGro, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Singapore Press Holdings and Hongkong Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened in the red on Monday and stayed under water throughout the trading day.
The Dow tumbled 320.04 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 35,650.95, while the NASDAQ sank 217.32 points or 1.39 percent to close at 15,413.28 and the S&P 500 lost 43.05 points or 0.91 percent to end at 4,668.97.
The pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking, as traders cashed in on some of the strength in the markets last week. The major averages all moved sharply higher last week, with the S&P 500 ending last Friday's trading at a new record closing high.
Traders may also have been moving money out of stocks and into safer havens ahead of the Federal Reserve's money policy announcement on Wednesday.
The Fed is expected to discuss accelerating the pace of tapering its asset purchase program, with reports suggesting the central bank could double the rate to $30 billion per month.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid worries about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down by $0.38 or 0.5 percent at $71.29 a barrel.