SGX
An electric display chart showing the afternoon trading trend of the blue chip Hang Seng Index is seen through a camera at a brokerage in Hong Kong, China. REUTERS

Singapore stocks fell after a three-day rally on Monday as investors booked profits in lenders such as DBS and United Overseas Bank.

Stocks in Asia were mixed as investors continued to digest earnings.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2 percent. The index is up 3.4 percent so far this month.

Investors are now focused on the impending appointment of the Federal Reserve chair, with speculation rife that Fed governor Jerome Powell is the favoured suitor.

The Straits Times Index shed 0.31 percent or 10 points to 3,376. The index hit its highest
since May 2015 before retreating. 

Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp rose about 1 percent to a fresh record high after the city-state's No. 2 lender posted a 12 percent increase in quarterly net profit last week.

Among the laggards, United Overseas Bank lost 0.8 percent and DBS Group Holdings dropped 0.7 percent.

Raffles Medical Group fell 2.2 percent after it posted a mere 1 percent growth in third-quarter net profit, as lower renewal rates for expatriate plans offset higher local patient loads at the hospitals.

Healthway Medical, an operator of medical centres and clinics in Singapore and Shanghai, dropped 2 percent after saying it expected to report a loss for the third quarter citing challenging operating environment and increase in finance costs.

CapitaLand's serviced residence business unit, the Ascott on Monday said it secured contracts to manage two properties in the Central Business District (CBD) and near the Ophir-Rochor Corridor. However, shares in Capitaland lost 0.3 percent.

About 1.9 billion shares worth S$1.2 billion changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 238 to 211.