LOCAL shares ended Tuesday in the black, with investors drawing comfort and optimism from US stock market indices closing at record highs at Monday's close.

The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.4 per cent or 13.32 points to finish Tuesday at 3,232.37. Across the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 275 to 206, after 1.89 billion securities worth S$1.2 billion changed hands.

Over in the US on Monday's trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.3 per cent higher at 35,913.84, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 4,613.67, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent to 15,595.92.

Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley noted that investors globally have several things going for them currently. These include the ongoing US corporate earnings season and the tariff deal between the US and Europe.

BlackRock Investment Institute said in a note that there has been strong earnings growth due to the strong economic restart, but warned that there could be some pullback in the near-term.

"The realisation of such strength was priced in by higher multiples last year, as stocks surged back from the Covid-19 shock. We are likely to see earnings growth normalise as activity settles after the powerful restart."

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On the local bourse, Jardine Matheson Holdings J36 : J36 0% was the top gainer. The counter gained 2.8 per cent or US$1.64 to finish the day at US$59.64.

With banks' Q3 earnings around the corner, two of the three of the local lenders were also among the top gainers. UOB U11 added 1.9 per cent or S$0.52 to S$27.39, while DBS DO5 : DO5 0% rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.23 to S$32.10.

OCBC O39 : O39 0% too made some gains, although at a more muted pace compared to its two peers. The stock inched up just 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$11.96.

A few of the bourse's property players were among the biggest losers on Tuesday. UOL Group U14 lost 2.1 per cent or S$0.15 to S$7.10, while City Developments C09 shed 1.4 per cent or S$0.10 to S$7.22. Bukit Sembawang B61 was down 2.3 per cent or S$0.12 to S$5.10, and CapitaLand Investment 9CI : 9CI 0% fell 0.9 per cent or S$0.03 to S$3.43.

Jiutian Chemical C8R : C8R 0% was the most heavily traded stock for the day, with some 96.9 million shares changing hands. The counter fell 6.9 per cent or 0.6 Singapore cent to 8.1 cents.

Other actively traded counters included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 , Sembcorp Marine S51 and Hatten Land PH0 : PH0 0% .

Elsewhere in Asia, stock markets ended the day mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.4 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index shed 0.2 per cent. The KLCI added 0.4 per cent, and the Kospi gained 1.2 per cent.