US likely to give direction as markets reopen

IT'S a jungle out there, if the way the last week of the previous lunar year ended is anything to go by, with the prolonged uncertainty about the global economy likely to remain a monkey on equity markets' back for some time.

With Chinese bourses closed for the entire week due to the Chinese New Year festive season, attention will likely be on the United States when the Singapore stock market reopens this Wednesday after a two-day holiday.

That might mean a less-than-swinging start to the year of the fire monkey, after US stock markets took a turn for the worse on Friday following a mixed set of jobs figures that shed little light on the health of the world's biggest economy.