Singapore share prices closed 1.30 percent lower on Tuesday on profit-taking ahead of key local economic data, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index fell 40.70 points to 3,089.72 on volume of 1.59 billion shares worth 1.58 billion Singapore dollars (1.14 billion US).
Decliners led rising issues 412 to 202 with 964 unchanged. The Singapore government on Thursday is to release advance GDP estimates for the first quarter. Economists' average forecast is for growth of 6.4 percent in the first three months of the year.
Gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced in the country, is officially expected to expand between 4.0 and 6.0 percent for the full year. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the economy grew by 5.4 percent, the government said.
"Despite a recent price correction, we see further share price weakness along with slower earnings momentum," said Pauline Lee, an analyst at Kim Eng. Banking shares were mixed, with DBS Group falling 16 cents to 19.30 Singapore dollars, United Overseas Bank up eight cents at 19.98 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp down nine cents at 8.43.
Among property heavyweights, CapitaLand dropped 16 cents to 6.53 and City Developments fell 32 cents to 11.92. Keppel Land gained one cent to 6.08. Singapore Airlines fell 20 cents to 15.90 and Singapore Telecommunications was steady at 3.92.
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