Asian stocks looked set to climb after a technology-fueled rally lifted their U.S. counterparts to the highest since February. The dollar weakened to an almost six-week low. Futures indicated a firmer open in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. S&P 500 contracts were little changed in Asia after the benchmark turned positive for the year, with Monday’s rally taking it to levels last seen just as the pandemic was starting. The Nasdaq 100 jumped the most since April, hitting a record high, after Amazon.com and Zoom Technologies soared on demand for companies that benefit from diminished economic activity. Treasuries pushed higher.

FIRST Reit’s manager issued a profit warning late on Monday that it is expecting a year-on-year decline of 40 to 50 per cent in its available distribution income to unit holders for the six months ending June 30 in its upcoming half-year results. Its distribution per unit for H1 2020 is expected to decline by 40 to 50 per cent from 4.30 cents recorded a year ago, while its total return after tax for H1 2020 is expected to fall by 50 to 60 per cent from S$30.9 million previously.

MAPLETREE Logistics Trust (MLT) has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.045 Singapore cents for its first quarter ended June 30 June, up 1 per cent from 2.025 cents in the year-ago period. Distributable income grew 5.7 per cent to S$77.8 million, said the company in a release of its results after trading hours on Monday. Meanwhile, net property income went up 12 per cent to S$118.8 million, on the back of a 1.1 per cent decline in property expenses, mainly due to lower utilities cost, maintenance expenses and absence of expenses in relation to the properties divested last year, partly offset by expenses attributable to acquisitions.

KEPPEL Reit (real estate investment trust) declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.40 Singapore cents for the second quarter ended June 30, a notch above its DPU of 1.39 Singapore cents from the same period a year ago. Distributable income was up 0.4 per cent to S$47.5 million, including capital-gains distribution of S$5 million for Q2. This was despite net property income declining by 7.2 per cent to S$28.8 million from a year ago.

THE world's largest glove manufacturer Top Glove Corp is looking to undertake a bonus issue on the basis of two bonus shares for every one existing share held. The exercise will see up to 5.48 billion bonus shares issued to shareholders whose names appear in the company's record of depositors on an entitlement date to be determined. Top Glove on Monday said the proposed bonus issue is meant to reward shareholders and allow them to have greater participation in the equity of the group in terms of the number of shares, while retaining their percentage of equity interest held.

THE managers of CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) on Friday night guided that the stapled group's financial performance for fiscal 2020 will be "severely affected", amid the unprecedented downturn in global tourism and travel as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, CDLHT's distribution per stapled security after retention is expected to decline by 60 to 70 per cent, down from 4.16 Singapore cents a year earlier, the managers said.

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