SINGAPORE - Local stocks weakened further on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for this year.

The Straits Times Index fell 17.28 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 3226.71.

About $1.14 billion shares worth $834.3 million changed hands in total.

The most active counter was International Healthway Counter, which stayed flat at 27 cents on a turnover of 92.4 million shares.

"We have been going through a seasonally weak period of the year for shares. The September quarter is historically the weakest quarter of the year," said Mr Shane Oliver, global strategist at AMP Capital Investors.

"The global economic recovery has proved yet again to be fragile and uneven", he added in a report earlier this week. "The correction in shares could go further."

The drop in the local index mirrored those of major markets across Asia, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taiwan ending the day in the red.

One exception was Shanghai, which rose 0.8 per cent on Wednesday when it reopened after an extended Golden Week public holiday in China.