Asian stocks looked primed for losses after a weak session on Wall Street, as bleak retail, manufacturing and homebuilding data added to concerns about a severe U.S. recession. Treasuries surged.

Mapletree Industrial Trust will set aside up to S$13.7 million to cushion the impact of Covid-19 on its tenants in Singapore, over and above the property tax rebates announced by the government, which will be fully passed on to them. The additional programme is aimed at easing the pressure on tenants from "supply-chain disruptions and falls in business volume as a result of the pandemic".

City Developments Limited (CDL) is acquiring a 51.01 per cent stake in Chinese real estate developer Sincere Property Group for RMB4.39 billion (about S$0.88 billion), which will enable it to expand its footprint in China. As part of the transaction, a call option will also be granted to CDL, which it can exercise to purchase an additional 9 per cent interest in Sincere Property for RMB0.77 billion at the same entry valuation. If exercised, it will allow CDL to acquire a 60.01 per cent stake in Sincere for a total of RMB5.16 billion.

The overall passenger numbers of SIA Group's airlines fell 65 per cent year on year to 1.1 million in March, against the backdrop of muted travel demand and travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The group's airlines also recorded a a 60.4 per cent year-on-year decline in passenger carriage, measured in revenue passenger-kilometers. Capacity cuts in March resulted in an overall reduction of 43.8 per cent, measured in available seat kilometres, during the month.

Japfa said it will sell a 25-per-cent stake in its subsidiary to Japanese conglomerate Meiji for US$254.4 million in cash. In addition, the subsidiary will get to supply raw milk to Meiji on a five-year rolling basis, renewable annually. The subsidiary, AustAsia Investment Holdings, operates Japfa’s dairy-farming business in China. Japfa said the move is in line with its plans to grow AustAsia into the largest independent raw milk producer in China.

Chinese property developer Yanlord Land Group recorded 6.77 billion yuan (S$1.36 billion) in total contracted pre-sales from residential units and car parks for its latest quarter, 18.4 per cent higher than a year ago, even as the Covid-19 pandemic has weighed on property-buying sentiment in China. The pre-sales were for contracted gross floor area of 192,696 sq m, 7.1 per cent more than a year ago.

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