U.S. stock futures advanced as investors weighed further reopening of economies around the world against fresh warnings that the road to recovery will be long. Asian stock futures pointed to a mixed start, while the yen nudged lower.

S&P 500 futures climbed 0.8%, following last week’s retreat for global shares. Equity futures edged down in Hong Kong, while those in Japan and Australia rose. Crude oil climbed. The pound dipped after a Bank of England official said the central bank is examining a range of unconventional policy tools, including negative interest rates.

China has asked trading firms and food processors to boost inventories of grains and oilseeds as a possible second wave of coronavirus cases and worsening infection rates elsewhere raise concerns about global supply lines. Both state-run and private grain traders as well as food producers were urged to procure higher volumes of soybeans, soyoil and corn during calls with China's Ministry of Commerce in recent days, three trade sources told Reuters.

Australia urged China on Sunday to respond to its requests to discuss easing tensions between the two trading partners after Canberra called for an international enquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus. China, accusing Australia of playing "petty tricks", has recently suspended beef imports from four of Australia's largest meat processors and is considering imposing hefty tariffs on imports of barley.

Banks in Asia's financial hubs such as HSBC Holdings and Citigroup are finding that the disruption from the coronavirus outbreak is helping them push back on a threat from a new breed of virtual upstarts. With branches shut, customers social distancing and fearful of tainted cash, the brick-and-mortar giants are seeing a surge in demand for digital services for everything from wealth management to insurance. Now they are rolling out new video services and fresh mobile features for retail and affluent clients, speeding up a transformation to cement customer loyalty and reduce costs, consultants and bankers say.

Beleaguered Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT) has posted a loss of US$8.9 million for the first quarter to March, mainly due to the impairment loss on trade receivables arising from the uncertainty on the master lessees' ability to make rental payments and fulfil its obligations. Therefore, there is no income available for distribution for unitholders of the hospitality stapled group comprising Eagle Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (EH-Reit) and Eagle Hospitality Business Trust (EH-BT), according to EHT's financial statements released on May 16.

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