Singapore shares fell 0.73% by midday on Friday due to profit-taking on concerns about possible tightening measures in China, and traders were mixed about the outlook for the rest of the day.

By the midday break, the Straits Times Index (STI) <.FTSTI> was down 23.44 points at 3,186.76. The value of shares traded in the morning session was $695.9 million, lower than $874.7 million on Thursday.

“We noted some profit-taking sentiment today. We attributed it largely to the China CPI data, which is set to be published tomorrow and is likely to exceed 5%,” said Ng Kian Teck, an analyst at SIAS Research.

“The market is preparing itself for more tightening measures from China. During a period of profit taking, counters that have overperformed over the last few trading days tend to be more affected,” he added.