Asian equities looked set to rebound after the S&P 500 erased an earlier decline to close higher on Monday. Futures gained in Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong. The U.S. stock benchmark rose for the third time in four sessions as heavyweight technology companies led a recovery.

The risk-off rally also faded in the bond market, as 10-year Treasury yields advanced almost two basis points. The dollar fell against most of its G-10 counterparts, though the yen and Aussie were both lower. Oil pared gains after reaching the highest since April, to trade below $63 a barrel in New York.

Hong Kong financial services group AMTD Group has linked up with some prominent Singapore names as well as a familiar partner - Chinese tech giant Xiaomi Corp - to vie for a digital wholesale bank licence in Singapore, BT understands. AMTD is leading a consortium comprising Xiaomi, peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Societies and Singapore's leading utilities provider SP Group that's seeking one of three digital wholesale banking licences up for grabs here.

Green Court will be launched for collective sale on Jan 7, with its owners expecting offers above their reserve price of S$28 million, marketing agent Knight Frank Singapore announced on Monday. Including an additional development charge of about S$5.24 million payable to the authorities to maximise the gross floor area (GFA), the reserve price translates to a land rate of about S$1,178 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Jackspeed Corporation, a leather trim manufacturer for car seats, has requested a share suspension with immediate effect in a filing on Monday before the market opened. The suspension follows the company’s sale of its entire business as a going concern, and all its assets and liabilities for S$48 million in cash to a special purpose vehicle incorporated and owned by executive deputy chairman and CEO Yap Kian Peng.

India's government is likely to cut spending for the current fiscal year by as much as 2 trillion Indian rupees (S$37.5 billion) as it faces one of the biggest tax shortfalls in recent years, three government sources said. Asia's third largest economy, which is growing at its slowest pace in over six years because of lack of private investment, could be hurt further if the government cuts spending.

Hong Kong will rise again in at least one financial realm. Only twice – in post-crisis 2009 and 2010 – has the local bourse managed to outduel the combined power of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq for new equity issuance. Violent pro-democracy protests present a significant challenge, but there are strong countervailing forces that put the Asian financial hub in position to reclaim the IPO crown. Chinese state-owned enterprises have helped, including the last time it dominated with over US$51 billion in new capital raised compared to US$35 billion in the Big Apple, according to data provider Dealogic. Agricultural Bank of China was a big factor a decade ago, as was AIG-owned insurer AIA. The bigger battleground nowadays is in technology and the scales are tipping in Hong Kong's favour. There are over 100 mainland-based startups privately valued at a collective US$400 billion, according to research firm CB Insights. ByteDance, the US$75 billion owner of the TikTok video app, ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing and US$150 billion fintech super-unicorn Ant Financial are among a more promising group closing in on market debuts than a US field that includes home-sharing outfit Airbnb.

Source: SGX Masnet, The Business Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR