Singapore stocks fell on Tuesday after earlier touching a more than two-year peak, dragged lower by Noble Group and lenders such as OCBC Bank.
This came as US stocks retreated from record highs overnight, bogged down by a drop in technology shares and poor performances from industrial heavyweights such as General Electric.
Investors are closely watching China and the 19th Communist Party Congress, which winds up on Tuesday and at which President Xi Jinping is expected to release the composition of the Standing Committee - the apex of power in the country.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.1 percent firmer at 549.71 points, not far from a 10-year high of 554.63 set last week.
At 03:40 GMT, the Straits Times Index fell 0.27 percent or 9 points to 3,340. It ended 0.27 percent higher on Monday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 16 percent.
Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp lost 0.2 percent, United Overseas Bank fell 0.3 percent but DBS Group Holdings gained 0.3 percent each.
Embattled Noble Group plunged for a second session, down 6 percent after saying it would sell its U.S. oil-liquids business to Vitol Group for about $580 million, as commodity trader tries to reduce debt.
Ascott Residence Trust, a serviced residence real estate investment trust, fell 0.4 percent after it reported a 28 percent drop in third-quarter distribution per unit.
CapitaLand Retail China Trust Management added 0.3 percent after it reported a 0.4 percent rise in third-quarter distribution per unit.
Life insurance company Great Eastern Holdings rose 0.4 percent after it reported a 21 percent jump in third-quarter net profit, driven by higher operating and non-operating profit, as well as higher profit from shareholders' fund's investments.
About 737million shares worth S$404 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 169 to 165.
