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SHARES gave up their two-day winning streak, bucking the trend in other Asian markets, as profit-taking took over.
The sell-off sent the benchmark Straits Times Index down 4.08 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 3,067.74.
"Having peaked at 3,086 points, traders felt this was high enough to start taking some profits off the table. The local index wasn't helped by one of its biggest constituents CapitaLand tumbling," pointed out Mr Justin Harper, IG Markets Singapore's market strategist.
It was a different story across the region with shares continuing to gain, led by a strong United States jobs report and expectation that Europe's central bank will buy struggling Spain and Italy's sovereign bonds.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 per cent, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.13 per cent.
Turnover here was 1.56 billion shares worth $1.04 billion, from Monday's 1.26 billion shares worth $1.12 billion.
CapitaLand slid seven cents, or 2.24 per cent, to $3.06 - its first fall in 11 days - after chief executive Liew Mun Leong, who announced his retirement a month ago, sold one million shares.
StarHub, a favourite among investors chasing yield stocks, skid 10 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $3.74.
The telco is expected to announce its second quarter earnings today. "The stock's continued rise is a good chance to take profit as the launch of a new iPhone (this year) can be expected to depress margins in the second half of the financial year," said Maybank Kim Eng.
ComfortDelGro shed six cents, or 3.5 per cent, to $1.64. Citigroup downgraded the stock to sell on potential earnings pressure in Singapore and slowing business in Britain and China.
The losses in these three counters shaved a total of 4.54 index points off the STI.
Ley Choon Group Holdings fell 2.5 cents, or nearly 10 per cent, to 23.5 cents. The local construction firm started trading on the mainboard on Monday after completing a reverse takeover of Ultro Technologies.
Wilmar International gained one cent, or 0.31 per cent, to $3.28. It was reported that the firm is building two large wheat flour mills in Indonesia.
SingXpress Land closed unchanged at 1.4 cents. The firm said it has roped in a new investor, Haiyi Holdings - owned by wealthy Chinese national and Singapore permanent resident Tang Yigang. It will pump $94.4 million into the company.
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