The month is only a couple of days old, but it already looks like there is more of the same volatility that has racked investors all year.
The local benchmark wiped out the week's gains yesterday on the back of United States recession fears after August factory activity hit levels not seen since June 2009.
Increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong also hit sentiment.
The Straits Times Index (STI) responded by opening 0.4 per cent lower and extending the losses to end at 3,103.45, down 42.58 points or 1.35 per cent.
It was very much the same picture in other Asia-Pacific markets with Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea all in the loss column. Chinese markets remain closed for the Golden Week celebrations.
AxiTrader Asia-Pacific market strategist Stephen Innes said: "Why the markets are not trading lower is a bit of a mystery, given it's tough to debate the fact that the global manufacturing sector is on the cusp, if not in a full-blown recession."
While the global economic slowdown has been a constant worry for traders this year, the US economy has stayed fairly resilient, but Tuesday's reading suggests the world's largest economy might just be starting to crack.
Mr Jeffrey Halley, Oanda's senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific, said: "The effects were predictable. Wall Street stocks saw a mad scramble for the exit, US yields fell, as did the dollar, and gold pulled itself up from the canvas for a comeback Muhammad Ali would be proud of."
Traders are also positioning themselves for further rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve this month.
Trading volume here clocked in at 917.35 million shares worth $1.04 billion, with losers trumping gainers 277 to 118.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the STI's most active for the second straight session, falling 6 per cent to 94 cents on trade of 84.6 million.
The banking trio were among the benchmark's main laggards. OCBC Bank fell 2 per cent to $10.77, United Overseas Bank shed 1.6 per cent to $25.48, while DBS dropped 1.9 per cent to $24.77.
Sembcorp Industries, which said yesterday it is selling its commercial construction business to Chip Eng Seng Corp, fell 3.3 per cent to $2.06.
But it was not all doom and gloom. Lendlease Global Commercial Reit had a strong debut on the Singapore Exchange's mainboard. It closed at 92 cents, up from the initial public offering price of 88 cents, and was one of the most active counters yesterday.
