SINGAPORE - Local shares closed in the red for the third straight day, with the Straits Times Index (STI) plunging 39.85 points or 1.2 per cent to 3,272.62 on Tuesday.

Stocks opened just a tad higher, creeping up by 1.92 points before the bears set in, causing the carnage in the market.

Some 1.51 billion shares worth $1.21 billion changed hands.

There were just 78 gainers compared with 378 losers in the market, with 339 stocks unchanged.

Worries of an impending interest rate hike in the United States continued to weigh on the market.

It was the same downbeat story in other Asian markets, where Shanghai plummeted 1.82 per cent, Tokyo dropped 0.23 per cent, Sydney declined 0.51 per cent.

Even Hong Kong, which was only opened for trading in the afternoon due to a typhoon warning, could not escape the slaughter, falling 0.91 per cent.

Seoul was the only bourse that ended on a positive note, up 0.35 per cent.