Flat session on Wall Street overnight suggests Singapore shares may continue trading in tight ranges with downward bias, says Dow Jones.

With no encouragement so far from US economic data and investors generally holding back pending Friday’s closely-watched August non-farm payrolls report, any near-term upside for shares expected to be minimal.

Immediate resistance for STI at 2,969 (August 11 high), with support at last week’s 2,910 low; ends down 0.2% at 2,950.33 yesterday, down 1.3% in August.

“Valuations for many stocks are fairly decent but the risk of prices going lower still outweighs any upside potential. That’s largely why people have generally been holding back until there’s better clarity,” says a dealer at local brokerage.

Telecom stocks may be in focus with launch of Singapore’s high-speed national broadband network, prompting telcos to roll out new broadband packages. SingTel (Z74.SG) ends +1.3% at $3.08, Starhub (CC3.SG) +2.1% at $2.46, M1 (B2F.SG) +0.5% at $2.17.