The local market was not spared as Asian bourses ended the week in the red, as rising United States Treasury bond yields stoked inflation fears and caused a sharp overnight fall in Wall Street tech shares. The souring sentiment sent the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) falling 0.82 per cent, or 24.5 points, to end at 2,949.04. Losers outnumbered gainers 334 to 196 for the day, with 2.82 billion shares worth $2.35 billion changing hands. It was not that much different across the region. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index fell 3.99 per cent while the South Korean benchmark Kospi closed 2.8 per cent down. Chinese markets also ended the day firmly in the red. The Hang Seng Index slipped 3.64 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 2.12 per cent. Australian stocks fared dismally as well, falling 2.4 per cent on their worst day in six months, with A$51 billion (S$53 billion) wiped off share valuations. That left the index down 1.8 per cent for the week after it hit a 12-month high only last week. Mr Jeffrey Halley, Oanda's senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific, noted: "With Wall Street setting the myopic inflation-watching tone, it is no surprise that Asia has followed suit and hea...