Singapore financial markets shut due to Eid

Markets will resume trading on Monday, September 4.

SGX
Reuters

Singapore stock markets are closed on Friday on account of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Markets will resume trading on Monday, September 4.

On Thursday, equities gained for a fourth session, led by lenders such as OCBC amidst improved global risk appetite following upbeat Chinese and U.S. economic news.

About 2.2 billion shares worth S$1.5 billion changed hands on Thursday, with gainers outnumbering losers 217 to 181.

In global markets, Asian equities edged higher folowing Wall Street's gains overnight ahead of the U.S. jobs report later in the day.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as investors responded to strong economic data.

The financial markets looked to the U.S. jobs report due at 1230 GMT for further clues on the state of the world's largest economy.

Economists polled by Reuters expect U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 180,000 jobs in August after surging 209,000 in July and average hourly earnings to have increased 0.2 percent after rising 0.3 percent in July.

In commodities, crude futures fell, partly reversing sharp gains from the previous session, amid ongoing turmoil in the oil industry in the wake of hurricane Harvey.

U.S. crude futures was down 0.5 percent at $47.01 per barrel.

Meanwhile, gold was near a 9-1/2-month high, as the dollar came off its recent highs.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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