Singapore shares touched a three-week low on Friday and were on course for a second week of losses as investors stayed on the sidelines to watch for repercussions from the United States government shutdown.

The Singapore Exchange also suspended trading of three stocks - Asiasons Capital, LionGold Corp and Blumont Group - after their share prices tumbled earlier in the day.

The benchmark Straits Times Index was nearly flat at 3,144.75 points after slipping earlier to 3,131.14, its lowest since Sept. 13. Some 64 million shares changed hands, less than a quarter of the 30-day average daily volume.

The index was headed for a weekly decline of 2 per cent, its biggest such fall in over a month.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 per cent.

Hongkong Land Holdings was the worst performer on the index, down 2 per cent to US$6.40 in its third day of declines, though Citi analysts believe there is room for the share price to grow.

"We expect HKL's earnings will see continuous growth on a higher development profit from property sales in Singapore and China," Citi said in a research note, putting the target price at US$7.90.