SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore shares dropped sharply Friday as investors' nerves gave in to declines on Wall Street amid worries about fallout from the U.S. subprime mortgage market.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 87.03 points, or 2.4 percent, to 3,492.70, mirroring similar slides across Asian markets.

It was the market's biggest one-day loss this year, as a flurry of adverse economic news, including poor manufacturing numbers and fears of a government-led tightening of the property market, produced a spate of large-scale selling.

In the broader market, losers beat gainers 933 to 139. Volume was 4.1 billion shares, compared with 3.7 billion shares traded Thursday.

The index, which was already down at midday, fell further after data from the Singapore government showed private home prices rose 8.3 percent on quarter in the second quarter, the fastest rise since 1999.

Analysts said the government, cautious of a repeat of the late '90s property crash in the island state, could impose new measures to cool the market.

One analyst said the direction of the market may hinge to some extent on the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

After a strong performance in recent weeks, shipping and offshore stocks proved particularly vulnerable to the rush of profit-taking.

Keppel Corp. beat analysts' expectations by posting late Thursday a 32 percent on-year increase in net profits for the second quarter on strong performance from both offshore construction and property operations. Despite this, shares fell 3.6 percent to S$13.30.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. released its second-quarter earnings reports earlier Friday, reporting S$560 million in net profits, a 7 percent on-year drop. Shares fell 1.3 percent to S$22.40.

Lenders OCBC and UOB fell by similar amounts, dropping 1.6 percent to S$9.05 and 3.6 percent to S$21.70, respectively.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. posted a loss of US$24.7 million for the second quarter due to weaker consumer demand. Shares were down 4 percent to S$1.20.