SINGAPORE, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Singapore stocks closed down on Monday, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) wend down 1.17 percent or 40.59 points to close at 3438.61.

A total of 2.39 billion shares changed hands with a turnover of 1.62 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.23 billion U.S. dollars). Losers outnumbered gainers by 351 to 137.

The STI index closed down 0.99 percent or 34.65 points to close at 3479.2 last Friday.