IBM to buy open-source software pioneer Red Hat for $34bn, in the biggest acquisition in the IT veteran’s 107-year history. Investors in General Electric Co. are bracing for the troubled company to slash or sus pend its dividend when it reports quarterly results this week.

Great Eastern’s Q3 profit falls 26%. Great Eastern Holdings (GE), the insurance arm of OCBC Bank, announced it had turned a profit of S$213.3 million for its third fiscal quarter, down 26 per cent from S$287.5 million in the year-ago period.

Financial conditions tighten as markets tumble. Goldman index suggest dimming outlook for US economy. The market turmoil of the past month threatens to put the brakes on US economic growth, according to a closely watched measure of financial conditions.

US equity index futures start weekly trading little changed. U.S. equity index futures were little changed at the start of weekly trading on Sunday, leaving it unclear whether Wall Street would rebound from last week's steep sell-off or extend the slide.

Early indicators show that China’s slowdown worsened again in October. Sentiment continues to spur despite a raft of easing measures. Economic deterioration may spur additional government action.

Source: CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, Business Times, Phillip Securities Research