Singapore stocks edged lower on Tuesday, dragged lower by financials, industrials and amidst caution ahead of the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent after wobbling between positive and negative territory for much of the morning.
At a two-day meeting beginning later on Tuesday, the Fed is expected to take another step toward policy normalization and announce plans to begin unwinding its $4.2 trillion portfolio of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, Reuters reported.
The Straits Times Index fell 0.49 percent or 16 points to 3,226. It ended 1 percent higher on Monday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 12 percent.
Jardine Matheson Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp fell 1 percent each.
Shares in taxi operator ComfortDelGro declined 2.4 percent, extending Monday's plunge after its unit SBS Transit lost the tender to operate the Thomson-East Coast line to competitor SMRT.
Among the gainers, Sembcorp Marine jumped 2.5 percent after its unit signed a letter of intent with the U.S.-based SeaOne for the construction of compressed gas liquid carriers.
Billionaire Peter Lim backed real estate services provider Rowsley appointed Tan Wee Tuck as chief executive officer with immediate effect. Shares in the company gained 4.7 percent.
Investment holding firm IPC Corp surged 40 percent after it announced its foray into artificial intelligence with the acquisition of Beijing iJourney Technology Development Co for about US$5.1 million.
About 1.6 billion shares worth S$1 billion changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 227 to 184.
