SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Singapore shares closed lower on Monday, falling for the third straight session, with investors worried corporate earnings will be weak as the global economy slows.

A rebound in local shares failed to materialize following sharp losses on Friday despite the continued fall in crude oil prices, as the latest data on the local economy gave investors few reasons to cheer.
“Economic data in Singapore was dour, with the latest set of housing data showing private home prices staying flat in the last quarter,” said Jonathan Ng, analyst at CIMB-GK in a note to clients.
The city-state’s private home prices rose just 0.2 percent in April-June from a quarter ago, while manufacturing output mildly rebounded in June after two months of declines.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 12.55 points or 0.4 percent at 2,910.36.
But decliners outnumbered gainers 282 to 176, with 947 stocks unchanged.
There were 748.9 million shares traded, worth S$792.7 million.
“With more banks in trouble in the U.S., we expect a muted showing for the STI this week,” said Ng. “We see support for the index at 2,746 and suggest traders take a strict cut loss position.”
Property heavyweights took a beating given the muted increase in private residential prices. City Developments fell 3.0 percent to S$11.16 and CapitaLand slipped 1.4 percent to S$5.83.
“Until we gain a clearer picture on the global macroeconomic climate and inflationary pressures beginning to step down a little, we see no reason to upgrade our current rating on the property sector,” said Brandon Lee, analyst at DMG & Partners Securities, who has a “neutral” rating on the sector.
Banks were mixed, with Oversea Chinese Banking Corp up 0.6 percent at S$8.40 and United Overseas Bank up 0.8 percent at S$19.24 while DBS Group Holdings was down 0.2 percent at S$19.34.
Among other blue chips, Singapore Telecom fell 0.3 percent to S$3.52, Singapore Airlines fell 0.9 percent to S$15.28 and Keppel Corp was steady at S$10.50.
Chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor slipped 1.5 percent to S$0.640. CIMB-GK Research has cut its target price for the company to S$0.78 from S$0.87 previously, taking into account weaker earnings. The brokerage maintained its “neutral” rating on Chartered.
($1 = S$1.36)