Rough ride ahead as STI loses grip on 3,000 level

IT WAS Miss Scarlet in the dealing room with a lead pipe - or what amounted to one. Local shares were beaten down on Friday in a bloody finale to the market's worst week this year, as the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) took a painful tumble below the 3,000-point mark and stayed there without getting back up.

The index's abrupt fall to its lowest point since November 2012 sparke…