Stocks in Asia were set to trade higher on Friday after the Nasdaq Composite recovered from its losses for the year overnight. Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 19,840 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 19,760. That compared against the Nikkei 225′s last close at 19,674.77. Meanwhile, shares in Australia were also set to open higher. The SPI futures contract was at 5,373, as compared to the S&P/ASX 200′s last close at 5,364.20. Investors will await the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s statement on monetary policy, set to be around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.

OCBC reported a 43 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit, worse than market estimates, as Singapore's second-largest lender set aside higher credit allowances to cover the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The bank said on Friday its profit declined to S$698 million for January-March from S$1.23 billion a year earlier. That was weaker than an average estimate of S$941 million from four analysts, according to Refinitiv data.

AUSTRALIAN energy company AusNet Services on Thursday said it has secured A$500 million (S$458.4 million) of bank debt facilities in total, which comprises a two-year A$350 million, a three-year A$100 million and a five-year A$50 million debt facility.

AEM Holdings, which provides advanced chip testing solutions, on Wednesday said it is revising its FY2020 revenue guidance upwards to be between S$430 million and S$445 million, while its capital expenditure is said to remain at about S$4 million. This comes as it had on May 4 received sales orders worth S$416 million for delivery for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2020.

CATALIST-LISTED food and beverage company Tung Lok Group expects to report a net loss for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. "The Covid-19 pandemic and the consequential social distancing measures have adversely affected the businesses of our restaurant outlets and catering services during the final quarter of FY2020," it said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the period is typically when the group's restaurants experience significantly higher patronage and generate substantially greater revenue compared to other periods.

PROPERTY developer GSH Corporation posted a 32 per cent decline in its hospitality segment's Q1 2020 revenue to S$13.2 million from S$19.5 million the year before. The Covid-19 pandemic situation is expected to continue to cast a negative impact on the group's hospitality business, which comprises two hotels in Sutera Harbour Resort and an island resort, Sutera @ Mantanani, in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, it said in an update on Thursday.

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