SINGAPORE stocks continued edging up as trading resumed on Tuesday afternoon, with the Straits Times Index advancing 0.14 per cent or 4.56 points on the day to 3,352.51 as at 1.05pm.

Gainers outnumbered losers 177 to 143, after 628.5 million securities worth S$391.3 million changed hands.

Some of the bourse's smaller stocks were the most heavily traded by volume. Asian Pay Television Trust advanced S$0.002 or 1.1 per cent to S$0.188 with 25.7 million shares traded, while Sino Grandness gained S$0.003 or 6.7 per cent to S$0.048 with 19.1 million shares traded.

Koh Brothers Eco Engineering also made an appearance on the most traded list, gaining S$0.006 or 12.8 per cent to S$0.053 with 14.6 million shares changing hands.

Singtel remained one of the most active index stocks, trading flat at S$3.50.

Among financials, DBS traded up S$0.13 or 0.5 per cent to S$26.03, UOB was up S$0.05 or 0.2 per cent to S$26.61, but OCBC declined S$0.04 or 0.4 per cent to S$11.48.

Most other Asian markets fell on Tuesday as investors take a breather after a recent rally and await the start of the corporate earnings season.

Tokyo led losses as it reopened after a long weekend, with the Nikkei 225 index ending morning's trading session down 0.7 per cent, hit by a stronger yen.

Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington and Manila were all down, but Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta eked out gains.