The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached new record closing highs on Monday as optimism over potential medical advances in the war against the coronavirus pandemic pushed all three major US stock indexes higher. The benchmark S&P 500 reclaimed its February closing high last week, confirming a bull market and the fastest recovery from a bear market trough on record. The blue-chip Dow, while leading Monday's gains, remains nearly 4.2 per cent below its all-time high, and down 0.8 per cent year-to-date. Of note, the Dow Transports index, often considered a barometer of US economic health, handily outperformed the broader market. The Nasdaq and the S&P have gained 26.8 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively, since the final closing bell of 2019.

Markets worldwide were given a boost by new developments in the global race to battle the coronavirus, including an announcement from the Food and Drug Administration that it had given emergency authorisation for the use of plasma from recovered patients as a treatment option.

Koufu Group wants to expand its Supertea and R&B Tea brands to the Philippines, and has given the Philippine-listed F&B group Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures the rights to retail them under a master franchise agreement. "We have carefully considered the market trends and found the conditions in the Philippines to be favourable; there has been a growing receptiveness towards the bubble tea culture in recent years," said Pang Lim, the mainboard-listed group's executive chairman and chief executive officer.

GuocoLand on Monday reported that its full-year net profit has halved year on year to S$114.1 million, largely due to the absence of fair-value gains on investment properties. Still, the group has proposed a first and final ordinary dividend of 6 Singapore cents per share for FY2020 ended June 30.

Axington shares closed lower on Monday amid sharp intra-day hits following controversy around its owners' bid for English football club Newcastle United. The Singapore Exchange's regulatory arm, SGX RegCo, has also weighed in, saying on Monday that it has "engaged" the company's continuing sponsor Novus Corporate Finance.

Tiong Woon Corporation Holding on Monday posted a net profit of S$7.6 million for its financial year to June, more than double the S$2.9 million it posted a year ago. The mainboard-listed group has proposed a final dividend of 0.3 Singapore cent per ordinary share, with the date payable to be announced later.

China's banking regulator pledged its backing for Hong Kong as a finance hub and reiterated a commitment to opening up the Chinese financial sector amid a deepening standoff with the US.

Video app TikTok on Monday said it had filed a lawsuit challenging the US government's crackdown on the popular Chinese-owned platform, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat

Oil prices rose on Monday as storms headed for the Gulf of Mexico shut more than half of the region's offshore production, with the more dangerous of the two storms expected to strike later in the week.

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