THE Singapore market ended near flat on Tuesday, with the Straits Times Index inching down 2.5 points or 0.08 per cent to 3,211.75 points.

It was a listless session throughout many other Asian markets, as investors continued to ponder the intentions of the United States Federal Reserve as to when it will start to scale back its money printing programme.

Across the board on the local bourse, losers edged out gainers by 220 to 217 while 363 stocks were unchanged.

The lack of retail participation meant that brokers were left to trade on their own accounts - as they have been doing so on many sessions over the past two years.

YHM Group was one of the penny stocks in play, with more than 1.248 billion units changed hands. The stock rose 1.5 cents to 7.2 cents, a gain of 26 per cent.