Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> dropped 2.7% to 2,650.61 points on Tuesday.

US stocks staged a late-day rally on Tuesday to push the S&P 500 into positive territory as focus shifted from European debt woes to buying after shares hit six-month lows.

Shipping companies: The Baltic Dry Index, which measures the cost of transporting commodities, gained 6.2% in London yesterday.
 

Cosco Corp. Singapore (COS SP), a China-based shipbuilder that also operates bulk carriers, declined 7.1% to $1.30. STX Pan Ocean Co. (STX SP), South Korea’s biggest bulk carrier, slumped 7.4% to $12.60. Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. (NOL SP), Southeast Asia’s biggest container carrier, fell 6.9% to $1.76.

Travel-related stocks: Singapore’s visitor arrivals surged 20.4% in April from a year earlier as a recovery in the global economy encouraged travel and the island’s two casino-resorts attracted tourists to their roulette tables, shops and hotels, government data showed.

Singapore Airlines (SIA SP), the world’s second- biggest airline by market value, fell 2.3% to $13.90. Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd. (TGR SP), the budget carrier partly owned by Singapore Air, declined 2.9% to $1.69. Genting Singapore Plc (GENS SP), operator of Singapore’s first casino resort, lost 0.5% to 92.5 cents.

Sembcorp Industries said on Tuesday it has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in an Indian power venture for about $319 million.

Commodity trader Noble Group will start operating a new iron ore terminal in India that can load up to 10 million tonnes a year within the next 18 to 24 months, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Global insurance giant Prudential Plc said most of its investors are comfortable with its bid of AIG’s (AIG.N) Asian life unit AIA.