US stocks ended lower again Friday, with tech shares tumbling in a continued selloff ahead of the holiday weekend, shrugging off data showing US unemployment falling more than expected in August. At the closing bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.6 per cent to finish the week at 28,133.31, while the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.8 per cent to 3,426.96, both recouping from the day's low point.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.3 per cent to end at 11,313.13, adding to the losses from Thursday's 5.0 per cent rout. Markets are closed Monday for Labour Day.

Ryanair has raised 400 million euros (S$646 million) from shareholders to strengthen its balance sheet as it eyes potential market opportunities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Europe's largest low-cost carrier said on Friday. The move adds to a large cash pile at an airline that has been less badly affected by the pandemic than many of its rivals owing to its relatively low level of debt and lack of exposure to the badly hit long-haul and business-class markets.

Volkswagen's Traton plans to make a fresh push to acquire Navistar International after talks were put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter. Volkswagen's heavy-truck business is seeking to restart negotiations this month to win over Navistar's management and the main shareholders, including billionaire investor Carl Icahn, said the people, asking not to be identified because deliberations are private.

ASIAN stocks struggled on Friday, after US equities tumbled by the most in almost three months, as nervous investors took profit on tech stocks amid concerns over their lofty valuations. In New York, the S&P 500 broke a 10-day winning streak and fell 3.5 per cent on Thursday.

CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) and CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT) on Friday announced deal sweeteners for their proposed merger, such as higher accretion to their respective distribution per unit (DPU), and the decision of CMT's manager to completely waive the acquisition fee of S$111.2 million.

Frasers Centrepoint Trust's (FCT) proposed acquisition of the rest of AsiaRetail Fund (ARF) will boost the real estate investment trust (Reit)'s suburban portfolio even as suburban malls are expected to recover more strongly from the negative impact of Covid-19 than their centrally located peers.

GIC has joined a consortium of institutional investors, led by Hillhouse Capital Group, to invest around US$418 million through a private placement in Nasdaq-listed I-Mab, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company.

Telcos StarHub and M1 have been slapped with fines totalling S$610,000 for Internet service disruptions during the "circuit breaker" period in Singapore, when a majority of people were working and studying from home. StarHub received a penalty of S$210,000 while M1 was fined S$400,000 for contravening the Code of Practice for Telecommunication Service Resilience 2016, said the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Sunday.

Source: SGX Masnet, The Business Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR