Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday in line with Asian shares ahead of the key US jobs data later in the day, while the Philippines rose slightly on bargain-hunting. The employment report is expected to show solid job creation in June, but worries over the world economy following Britain's vote to leave the European Union and a deepening crisis in Italian banks continue to sour investor sentiment globally.
Singapore shares fell 0.5 percent, dragged down by oil and gas stocks after a 5 percent fall in global crude prices overnight. Though oil prices recovered in Asian trading on Friday from the two-month lows hit in the previous session, benchmark Brent was in line for its largest weekly decline since January. Keppel Corp Ltd lost nearly 1.8 percent, while Sembcorp Industries Ltd dropped 0.7 percent.
Vietnam shares fell 0.4 percent, with energy stocks including Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corp leading the losses. After recent gains, "the market may undergo some consolidation", said Nguyen Thanh Lam, deputy research manager of Maybank Kim Eng Securities in Vietnam. Bucking the trend, Philippine shares closed 0.2 percent higher, helped by financial stocks. SM Prime Holdings Inc rose 1.5 percent. Investors were "bargain-hunting", as they saw an opportunity to invest after Thursday's fall, Cruz said. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3 percent at 0900 GMT, down nearly 1 percent so far this week. Indonesia was closed on Friday for Eidul-Fitr.
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