SINGAPORE - Singapore shares closed 1.27 per cent lower on Wednesday, extending their falls with sentiment still guarded, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed 22.95 points lower at 1,784.01, finishing below the 1,800 level for the first time in two weeks. Volume reached 1.13 billion shares worth S$960.85 million.

Declining shares outnumbered rising stocks 250 to 177, with 886 unchanged.

"The market seems to have priced in quite a bit of weak earnings numbers and job layoffs in Singapore. There is latent potential for buying," a technical analyst with a local brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.

Banking stocks tumbled, with DBS falling 36 cents to S$10.66, United Overseas Bank declining 32 cents to S$12.70 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp off 10 cents to S$4.92.

Property developers continued to decline. CapitaLand eased 24 cents to S$2.76, Keppel Land lost 10 cents to S$1.93 and City Developments dipped four cents to S$6.21.

Index heavyweight Singapore Telecommunications rose three cents to S$2.38 after reporting its net profit fell 12.1 per cent to S$868 million for the second quarter to September.

Despite the decline, net profit beat a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts who predicted an average of S$859.8 million for the quarter.

Among other blue chips, Singapore Airlines climbed 12 cents to S$11.42 and Singapore Press Holdings was up eight cents to S$3.46. Oil rig-maker Keppel Corp fell 10 cents to S$4.88.

- AFP/ir