Shares close 2.47% lower

SINGAPORE - Singapore shares slid 2.47 per cent on Tuesday as investors booked some profits after recent gains, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) closed 45.59 points lower at 1,802.39 on volume of 1.22 billion shares worth $1.08 billion (US$713 million).

Losers outnumbered gainers 297 to 141, with 745 issues unchanged.

Dealers said the pullback after five days of gains would not significantly derail the surge.

'Selling volumes are fairly light, so the correction looks healthy in nature and shouldn't be too dramatic,' said Gabriel Gan, senior vice president of AmFraser Securities.

Another dealer said pockets of positive economic data out of China and the United States should help galvanise the market.

'We believe that bears will have limited ammunition as economic data out of China and the US continues to improve,' said Yeo Kee Yan, a strategist at DBS Vickers Securities.

Banking shares closed down. DBS fell 35 cents to $8.83, United Overseas Bank slipped 46 cents to $10.48 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp eased nine cents to $5.24.

Among property shares, CapitaLand shed 24 cents to $2.57, City Developments retreated 36 cents to $5.82 and Keppel Land closed 13 cents lower at $1.64.

Singapore Telecommunications gained seven cents to $2.53 while Singapore Airlines was unchanged at $11.00.

Oil rig maker Keppel Corp dropped 32 cents to $5.46 and agribusiness firm Wilmar International eased three cents to $3.32.