Market Update - 5 Aug 2013

• Wall Street closed higher with the DOW +0.19%, the S&P 0.16% and the NASDAQ 0.38%. 

• US jobs data on Friday was mixed, as nonfarm payroll jobs in July came in worse than expected at +162k (market cons: +185k), but the unemployment rate fell to 7.4% in July from 7.6% in June. 

• China’s non-manufacturing PMI in July was 54.1 from 53.9 in June, aided by the government’s move to boost small companies. 

• Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index on course for its first loss in three days, as industrial and healthcare companies led declines. 

• The KLCI closed slightly higher on Friday, managing to resurface above the 1780 mark but may find it difficult to climb higher back to the 1800 psychological level for now. 

• USD/MYR remains supported at the 3.2400 mark, the pair retreated a little following the worse than expected US jobs data. Today’s expected trading range 3.2350 -3.2550