US considering duties on countries that undervalue currency: Commerce Department. The US Commerce Department said on Thursday it was proposing a new rule to impose anti-subsidy duties on products from countries that undervalue their currencies against the dollar, another move that could slap higher tariffs on Chinese products. The new rule also could put goods from other countries at risk of higher tariffs, including Japan, South Korea, India, Germany and Switzerland.

'Good' chance for China trade deal, could include Huawei: Trump. President Donald Trump said Thursday there is a "good" possibility that Washington and Beijing will strike a bargain ending their trade war, and it could include a settlement over blacklisted telecom firm Huawei. "If we made a deal, I can imagine Huawei being included in some form or some part of a trade deal," Mr Trump told reporters during an announcement about increased aid to farmers hurt in the trade war with China.

US manufacturing activity growth near 10-year low – Markit. US manufacturing growth sputtered in May, measuring its weakest pace of activity in nearly a decade and new orders fell for the first time since August 2009 as the US-China trade war intensified, data from IHS Markit showed on Thursday. In its "flash" Purchasing Managers Index for May, Markit said its US Manufacturing PMI declined to 50.6 from a final reading of 52.6 in April, marking the lowest level since September 2009. Wall Street economists polled by Reuters had a consensus forecast of 52.5.

Oil plummets, on track for biggest weekly drop in 2019. Oil prices plunged on Thursday, losing about 5 per cent as trade tensions dampened the demand outlook, putting the crude benchmarks on course for their biggest daily and weekly falls in six months. Oil coursed downward with other global markets as concerns grew that the China-US trade conflict was fast turning into a technology cold war between the world's two largest economies.

Sunpower bags 43.6m yuan contract from Chinese petrochemical firm. Environmental solutions firm Sunpower Group has secured a 43.6 million yuan (S$8.7 million) contract to provide high-efficiency heat exchangers to its repeat customer, Zhejiang Petrochemical Co, the mainboard-listed firm announced on Thursday.

CSC Holdings Q4 losses deepen to S$6.9m on cost overruns. Geotechnical engineering firm CSC Holdings sank further into the red, with losses deepening 20.6 per cent to S$6.9 million for the fourth quarter ended March, the company announced on Thursday. This was partly due to a provision for loss of S$1 million on a project with cost overruns arising from stricter regulatory requirements and unforeseen difficult ground conditions. Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter dipped 0.9 per cent year-on-year to S$74.7 million. Source: SGX Masnet, The Business Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR