Singapore stocks ended little changed on Tuesday, led by lenders such as DBS but weakness in other regional markets following a drop in China's factory gauge kept gains in check.
Stocks in Asia were sluggish and bonds added to gains after a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China's October factory growth.
Wall Street pulled back from record-high territory on Monday, weighed down by a drop in drugmaker Merck.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent.
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 fell 0.06 percent or 2 points to 3,374. It ended 0.31 percent lower on Monday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 17 percent.
The index has risen about 5 percent so far this month, its biggest monthly gain in nine.
Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp lost 0.4 percent and United Overseas Bank shed 0.04 percent but DBS Group Holdings rose 0.9 percent.
Losers included property developer Roxy-Pacific Holdings, which lost 4.3 percent after its net profit tumbled 82 percent in the third-quarter due to lower revenue from the property development and hotel ownership segments.
KTL Global, a supplier of rigging equipment to the offshore oil and gas, slumped 14.3 percent after its chief executive officer was asked to assist authorities in an investigation concerning a possible offence under the Securities and Futures Act.
About 2.1 billion shares worth S$1.4 billion changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 231 to 216.
