Singapore share prices closed 0.84 percent lower on Thursday as investors took profits ahead of the long weekend, dealers said. The Straits Times Index fell 22.31 points to 2,620.58.
Volume of shares traded totalled 1.57 billion worth 1.44 billion Singapore dollars (923 million US). Losers outpaced gainers 344 to 265 with 593 shares unchanged.
Financial markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday. "The market took a tumble today on a combination of factors. Firstly, with the weekend holidays coming up a lot of investors are not too keen to stay on in the market," UOB Kay Hian director John Yap said.
He added that weak earnings from companies like Singapore Airlines as well as higher US interest rates may have hurt market sentiment.
Property stocks declined after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating for the sector to "market weight" from "overweight" following recent strong gains.
City Developments dropped 0.40 to 10.20, CapitaLand fell 0.21 to 4.84 and Keppel Land was off 0.12 at 4.72.
Banks were mostly flat with United Overseas Bank unmoved at 16.10 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp flat at 7.0. DBS Group however fell 0.30 to 18.60.
Blue chips closed mixed with Singapore Telecommunications sliding 0.02 to 2.68, Singapore Press Holdings flat at 4.28, ST Engineering advancing 0.02 at 3.02 and Singapore Airlines losing 0.10 at 14.00.
However the Singapore Exchange bucked the downtrend rising 0.18 to 4.90, on expectations that analysts will upgrade their earnings estimates for the bourse operator.
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