Singapore share prices closed 0.21 percent lower on Monday, pulled down by losses in CapitaLand and Keppel Land which bid unsuccessfully for the city-state's first casino resort project, dealers said.
The main Straits Times Index closed down 5.11 points to 2,439.91. Volume of shares traded totaled 869.61 million worth 906.21 million Singapore dollars (573.55 million US).
Losers beat gainers 358 to 209 with 633 shares unchanged.
"The market is in a negative mode, it's looking for excuses to sell," a local brokerage dealer said.
Local property developers CapitaLand and Keppel Land bore the brunt of the losses after losing to US casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp to develop Singapore's first casino resort project.
The two developers had teamed up with MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment respectively for the multi-billion dollar project and were seen as joint favourites to land the bid.
CapitaLand fell 32 cents to 4.10 while Keppel Land eased 34 cents to 4.28.
For other blue chips, ST Engineering was flat at 2.85, Singapore Press Holdings even at 4.14, Singapore Telecommunications fell one cent to 2.55 and Singapore Airlines rose 20 cents to 12.70.
Technology shares were mixed with Venture Corp down 30 cents to 11.70, Creative Technology flat at 9.10 and Chartered Semiconductor rose three cents to 1.59.
Banking shares closed flat to lower with DBS and United Overseas Bank stable at 18.00 and 15.20 respectively while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was off five cents at 6.45.