The local bourse, bucked the gains made by its Asian peers, with the Straits Times Index closing down 14.48 points or 0.5 per cent to 3,047.93.

Losers outpaced gainers 218 to 150 while 419 counters were unchanged. Some 1.91 billion shares worth $974.7 million were done.

Traders mostly stayed in the sidelines ahead of the conclusion of a two-day key United States Federal Reserve policy meeting. The Fed is widely expected to cut its asset buying programme by another US$10 billion a month which analysts say have already been priced in.

"It is accepted by the markets that the Fed will not want any more shocks in the market, thus the plan is to slowly take their foot off the pedal," said Ms Kelly Teoh of Singapore's IG Markets.

Investors will be focussing on remarks on the direction of the US economy and any mention of the recent emerging markets vulnerability.

Losses in the local market stood in contrast to the gains made across Asian markets today led by Turkey's surprise rate hike which eased tension somewhat over emerging economies and Wall Street's positive close overnight.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.7 per cent while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.8 per cent.