SINGAPORE shares closed lower on Thursday, with the key Straits Times Index falling 16.84 points or 0.6 per cent to 2652.65 on a quiet trading day ahead of Friday's polling in the city state and the release of key US jobless data.

Much of the region however posted gains, from key gauges in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, China to Australia. Like Singapore, the Malaysian market was another outlier and closed marginally lower.

"Trading ranges continue to narrow as exchange volumes dwindle. Summer markets, yes, but also reflective of the fact that no one has seems to have much conviction on anything right now," said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp on the general trading mood in Asia.