Weak macro data dampens market mood

THE local bourse capped a week of choppy trading on a dour note with the key Straits Times Index losing 8.7 points or 0.3 per cent at 2,793.15 on Friday.

Week on week, the index lost nearly 50 points or 1.4 per cent, gripped by protracted fears over a global slowdown, a commodities slump, the softening Chinese economy and the looming US rate hike. These same fears have led the STI to lose more than 20 per cent from its peak of 3,550 in April to date.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was a stand out performer, advancing 3.2 per cent after a …