Back in Asia, Australian SPI futures were off 2.26 percent at 5,631 compared to the S&P/ASX 200’s previous close of 5,760.933.
Japan markets are closed for the Mountain Day holiday.
In corporate news, Noble Group announced a net loss of $1.9 billion in the first half of 2017. Noble has been forced to shuffle management, sell down assets and slash costs to boost liquidity.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of six major currencies, slipped on the back of weaker-than-expected U.S. producer prices. The index stood at 93.401 at 6:46 a.m. HK/SIN, below the index’s overnight high of 93.805. Ahead, the release of U.S. July CPI due during the U.S. trading day is expected to influence the direction of the dollar.
Oil prices slumped Thursday on oversupply concerns and the move lower on Wall Street, Reuters reported. Brent crude fell 1.52 percent to settle at $51.90 a barrel and U.S. crude declined 1.96 percent to settle at $48.59.
The economic calendar for Asia is fairly light (all times in HK/SIN):
- 8:00 a.m.: Singapore second-quarter GDP
- 1:00 p.m.: Singapore June retail sales
- 4:30 p.m.: Hong Kong second-quarter GDP
— CNBC’s Leslie Shaffer contributed to this report.