Stock market closes higher as Dow has best day in 4 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.58% jumped 396.32 points, or 1.6%, to 25,558.73. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.79% advanced 22.32 points, or 0.8%, to 2,840.69 with all its 11 sectors ending in positive territory, led by telecommunications services, consumer staples and financials. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.42% added 32.41 points, or 0.4%, to 7,806.52.

US jobless claims fall for second straight week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 212,000 for the week ended Aug 11, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Oil steadies but outlook for demand grows gloomy. Brent crude oil futures settled 67 cents higher at US$71.43 a barrel, while US crude futures rose 45 cents to US$65.46 a barrel. As the end of the summer driving season approaches, crude oil processing is likely to have peaked and should decrease from now on. Net crude oil imports, therefore, need to decline steeply so that crude oil stocks do not rise any further.

Singapore non-oil exports notch 11.8% growth in July, beating forecasts. NODX grew by 11.8 per cent on the previous year - far ahead of the revised 0.8 per cent uptick in June, and well up on the market consensus of a 7.4 per cent rise.

Oslo Stock Exchange moves again to delist Emas Offshore. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway made the decision on Aug 15, and Emas has three weeks from that date to appeal. This is the stock exchange's second attempt to delist Emas this year, after it passed the first resolution in February. The company succeeded in appealing against it in April.

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