Wall Street flexed its muscles on Friday, with the Dow erasing its losses for the year and the S&P and Nasdaq again hitting records as investors shrugged off the ongoing coronavirus crisis, while markets elsewhere saw more moderate trading. Much of the positive sentiment can be attributed to the Federal Reserve, which made clear that US interest rates will stay ultra-low as long as needed in a major policy shift announced Thursday. That further buoyed stocks that had already climbed following their March Covid-19 downturn, after the Fed offered trillions of dollars in liquidity to keep markets functioning normally, with tech stocks doing particularly well as consumers spent more time at home.

Micro-Mechanics on Friday reported a 45.5 per cent rise in its net profit to about S$3.9 million for its fourth fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2020, from S$2.7 million in the year-ago period. Strong revenue growth gave a boost to its bottom line, said the mainboard-listed company, which manufactures high-precision tools and parts used in process-critical applications for the semiconductor industry.

Natural rubber supplier Halcyon Agri Corp has proposed the issuance of guaranteed perpetual securities as its latest fundraising option, rather than the earlier proposed rights issue. In a regulatory filing, the mainboard-listed firm said this move is a "more optimal and equitable" funding option amid current market conditions.

Keppel Corporation, which owns a 40 per cent stake in upstream oil and gas company KrisEnergy, on Sunday said it is prepared to support the final restructuring proposal of the debt-hit firm. In a bourse filing, Keppel Corp said it has evaluated KrisEnergy's debt workout plan, which it believes is a "deliverable plan".

Mainboard-listed Wing Tai Holdings reported a net loss of S$16.8 million for the second half ended June 30, down from net profit of S$28.4 million in the year-ago period, in its results release on Friday after market close.

Neo Group is looking to make its foray into property development, investment and management. This will mean expanding its existing core business of providing end-to-end food and catering solutions, the Catalist-listed firm announced on Friday.

Property developer Oxley Holdings ecorded a net loss of S$296.3 million for the second half of the financial year ended June 30, on the back of other losses incurred due to the Covid-10 pandemic, in its results release on Friday after the market close.

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