The Straits Times Index slipped 0.3% to 2,736.93 as of the 12:30 p.m. About eight stocks dropped for every five shares that rose on the 30-member gauge, says Bloomberg newswires. Stocks on the measure trade at 14.6 times estimated earnings, compared with about 10 times at the start of 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

TPV Technology (TPV SP), Biosensors International Group (BIG SP), K-REIT Asia (KREIT SP), Singapore Post (SPOST SP) and Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE SP) were among the gainers.