U.S. stocks close mostly lower as Fed stands pat; Apple buoys tech shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.32% slid 81.37 points, or 0.3%, to 25,333.82. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.10% shed 2.93 points, or 0.1%, to 2,813.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.46% gained 35.50 points, or 0.5%, to 7,707.29.

Oil falls 2% on rising supply, concern about trade tensions. Brent crude futures fell US$1.82 to settle at US$72.39 a barrel, a 2.5 per cent loss. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell US$1.10 to settle at US$67.66 a barrel, a 1.6 per cent loss.

US hiring surges in July: ADP survey. ADP said the private sector added 219,000 new jobs, the most since February and surpassing the 175,000 consensus forecast among economists.

US factory activity slows. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity fell to a reading of 58.1 last month from 60.2 in June.

China's central bank steps up effort to boost lending. China's central bank has started actively encouraging banks to extend more credit by taking a softer stance on loan quotas, people familiar with the matter said, as authorities ratchet up efforts to bolster a cooling economy.

DBS reports 18% gain in Q2 profit, flags uncertainty over US-China tensions. Net profit for the three months ended June 30, 2018 stood at S$1.33 billion, compared to S$1.13 billion posted in the year-ago period. This translated to an annualised earnings per share of S$2.10, up from S$1.76.

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