U.S. and Asian stocks looked set for gains Monday as traders reacted to the possibility President Donald Trump may be able to leave hospital as soon as Monday. The yen retreated. Futures pointed higher in Japan and Australia, where markets are open though volumes are expected to be low because of a holiday. S&P 500 contracts climbed after U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday in a volatile day for global financial markets. Crude oil ticked higher after Friday’s slump. The pound fluctuated following a weekend call between U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Brexit.

OVER the weekend, several Singapore Exchange-listed firms notified shareholders of investigations involving their independent directors who are also current or former directors of the troubled Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT). On Friday night, EHT's managers said in a regulatory filing that all of its former and current Singapore-based directors were arrested and released on bail on Oct 1, on "reasonable suspicion" that disclosure requirements may have been breached.

AXINGTON Inc will not proceed with its proposed S$12 million acquisition of a Malaysia-based medical products distributor after failing to obtain shareholders' approval for the deal. In a regulatory filing on Friday, the Catalist-listed firm said conditions for the acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Vesta Apex Trading have not been fulfilled or waived by the long-stop date, in particular approval from shareholders.

CHINA-FOCUSED phosphate miner AsiaPhos Limited on Friday said it is looking to acquire the entire stake in gold and copper miner MMJV, in a deal that will constitute a reverse takeover of the former. AsiaPhos plans to issue and allot to the seller its ordinary shares at 0.5 Singapore cent apiece, totalling either S$72 million or half of the agreed valuation of the target group, whichever is lower. The agreed issue price is at a 75 per cent discount to the weighted average trading price of AsiaPhos shares of 2.17 Singapore cents on the market day before AsiaPhos signed a term sheet on Tuesday with Mining and Minerals Industries Holding (MMIH).

THE writ of summons for Best World International's defamation proceedings against short-seller Bonitas Research has expired. Best World and its founders - Dora Hoan and Doreen Tan - decided not to renew the writ, and thus will not continue with the lawsuit. This is so they can "focus management time and resources on the measures necessary for the company to resume trading and the growth of the group's business", Best World said in a filing early on Friday.

AGV Group's executive director for Singapore operations, Albert Ang, has agreed to leave the Catalist-listed company as recommended by the nominating committee. Mr Ang, 53, was investigated by the Singapore Police Force's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), which recently said there were reasonable grounds to believe he had committed an offence. CAD had launched a probe into the offence of false trading and market rigging transactions under Section 197 of the Securities and Futures Act of Singapore.

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