Correction mode leaves its mark on local bourse

IT WAS not meant to be for Singapore's stock market barometer - try as it may - to cap the last trading day of a volatile week on a positive note, finishing instead at a two-week low.

A concoction of down news - continued sell-off in sovereign bonds, Wall Street's soft overnight lead and mixed earnings by US tech giants - killed the joy in the market ahead of a keenly awaited labour market update out of the US.

The key Straits Times Index shed 17.41 points or 0.5 per cent to finish at 3,529.82 on Friday as it wrapped up a week that saw a visible shift to correction mode led by profit taking, throwing cold water over a sweet, much-enjoyed rally. Week-on-week, the index lost 37.3 points or just over one per cent.