Singapore shares down

Singapore share prices closed 0.27 percent lower Wednesday on concerns local banks will be affected by the US subprime mortgage crisis, dealers said. The Straits Times Index dropped 10.09 points to 3,673.01 on volume of 2.17 billion shares worth 2.61 billion Singapore dollars (1.81 billion US). Losers outnumbered gainers 470 to 295, with 915 issues unchanged.
Southeast Asia's biggest lender DBS Group fell 50 cents to 21 dollars, United Overseas Bank dropped 10 cents to 20.50 dollars and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp eased 10 cents to 8.80 dollars.
Blue chip Singapore Telecommunications rose four cents to 3.96 dollars after it reported that net profit in the second quarter to September rose an annual 3.3 percent to 988 million Singapore dollars (686 million US), driven by its regional mobile businesses. Singapore Airlines climbed 10 cents to 19.70 dollars.