Tech rally leads stocks higher; trade and Fed minutes also in focus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.75% gained 181.92 points, or 0.8%, to 24,356.74. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.86% added 23.39 points to 2,736.61, a gain of 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.12% rose 83.75 points, or 1.2%, to 7,586.43.

US private payrolls miss expectations; weekly jobless claims up. The ADP National Employment Report showed on Thursday private employers hired 177,000 workers in June, less than market expectations for a 190,000 gain. Private payrolls increased by 189,000 jobs in May.

Oil Slips as U.S. Crude Stockpiles Show Surprise Build. U.S. crude futures fell $1.20 to settle at $72.94 a barrel, retreating from Tuesday's 3-1/2-year high of over $75. Brent crude futures lost 85 cents to settle at $77.39 a barrel. U.S. crude stockpiles rose 1.3 million barrels last week, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Analysts had expected a 3.5 million-barrel draw.

Government raises ABSD, tightens LTV limits to cool Singapore property market. The current ABSD rates for Singapore citizens and Singapore permanent residents (SPR) purchasing their first residential property will remain at zero and 5 per cent respectively. But the ABSD rates for all other individuals will be raised by five percentage points and 10 percentage points for entities. An additional ABSD of 5 per cent will also be introduced for developers buying residential properties for housing development. For LTV limits, they will be tightened by five percentage points for all housing loans granted by financial institutions.

Sembcorp Industries to redeem S$200m of 5% perpetual securities at par. Magnus Energy to place 2.53b new shares to raise S$2.28m. Magnus Energy's rationale is to strengthen its financial and working capital position. The company intends to use the net proceeds for general working capital for corporate expenditures, and as funds for a microalgae oil cultivation project.

Xiaomi call warrants to start trading on SGX on July 9. They will have a strike price of HK$20, $24 and $30 respectively, and the same expiry date of Feb 4, 2019.

Source: CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, Business Times, Phillip Securities Research