Markets continue to fret over negative news

SINGAPORE - Fears over the impact of a United States government shutdown last week added to prevailing concerns over rising oil prices, a muscular US dollar, tight financial conditions and a potential economic slowdown. The

last-minute deal hammered out on Capitol Hill on Sunday

may yet save the nation from what many have called a “politically manufactured crisis”.

But the “gloom loop”, as some call it, has weighed heavily on sentiment, sending equity markets further south during a September to forget.