The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.65 points to 25,241.94 with United Technologies leading the blue-chip names. The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to 2,820.40 thanks to gains in materials, telecommunications and energy stocks.

Twitter said on Tuesday it had removed more than 143,000 apps from the messaging service since April in a fresh crackdown on "malicious" activity from automated accounts.

Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number feared dead after a partly built hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed after heavy rain. Death toll is also rising in Greece, after a series of fires, which broke out on Monday afternoon, devoured homes and forests.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has ordered financial institutions to tighten their customer-verification processes. With immediate effect, additional information such as a one-time password and last transaction amount must be used for verification before undertaking transactions for the customer.

DBS Bank has launched an online property marketplace that aggregates close to 100,000 property listings from EdgeProp and Averspace.

SINGAPORE Airlines has launched a blockchain-based digital wallet, which lets frequent flyer members use their miles to buy goods and services from selected merchants in Singapore.

SHOPMATIC, a Singapore-based startup that provides e-commerce solutions to small businesses, said on Tuesday it has expanded into the Middle East - having set up shop in Singapore, India and Hong Kong,

BANYAN Tree Holdings on Tuesday said it plans to sell its entire assets portfolio in Seychelles for US$70 million to a buyer from the Middle East, but will continue to manage Banyan Tree Resort Seychelles under a hotel management agreement.

SEMBCORP Industries on Tuesday said its unit, Singapore Wuxi Investment Holdings (SWIH), has agreed to sell its entire 49 per cent equity interest in the capital of Wuxi Singapore Property Investment Co (WSPI) to Golden Concord and Shanghai Sunac Real Estate Development Co for 323 million yuan (S$68 million).

Source: CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, Business Times, SingStat, MTI, Phillip Securities Research