US stocks posted their worst session in weeks on Monday, driven downwards by fading hopes for US stimulus, mounting worries over the coronavirus and jitters over the November 3 elections. The decline came as data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed daily coronavirus cases in the U.S. have risen by an average of 68,767 over the past seven days, a record.

The major indexes recovered from the low points of the day, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average still dropped 2.3 per cent to end at 27,685.38, a loss of 650 points. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.9 per cent to close the session at 3,400.97, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.6 per cent to 11,358.94.

Meanwhile, fresh Covid-19-induced restrictions in Italy and Spain to curb a resurgence in cases weighed on the rest of Europe, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closing at a one-month low, down 1.8 per cent.

Mainboard-listed SIA Engineering Company has entered into two agreements with Cebu Air: one was to buy out the latter's interest in SIA Engineering Philippines Corporation (SIAEP), and the other to sell its stake in Aviation Partnership (Philippines) Corp (APP) to the budget airline. In statements to the bourse operator, the engineering unit of Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced on Monday that it will pay US$7.74 million for Cebu Air's 35 per cent shareholding in SIAEP, making it SIA Engineering's wholly-owned subsidiary.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a Notice of Intention (NOI) to remove the manager of Eagle Hospitality Reit (EH-Reit), and to appoint a new manager. Since it was licensed in May 2019, EH-Reit Management has committed multiple breaches of the SFA, including breaches of the minimum base capital and financial resources requirements, said MAS.

UOB said it has seen a twofold increase in the number of construction firms obtaining loans under value chain financing (VCF) in the first six months of the year, as compared with the end of 2019. The growth was driven by the increase in sub-contractors and suppliers obtaining loans under VCF, as part of tie-ups between their main contractors or project owners and the bank to help ease financing challenges brought about by Covid-19, UOB said in a statement.

Ascendas Reit's manager announced in a business update that although a challenging economic outlook could affect its future performance, its well-diversified portfolio and tenant base should help mitigate potential problems. For its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2020, its portfolio occupancy had edged up to 91.9 per cent quarter on quarter, mainly attributable to a higher occupancy rate of 88.8 per cent in the Singapore portfolio.

Jack Ma's Ant Group is set to raise about US$34.5 billion through initial public offerings in Shanghai and Hong Kong, a blockbuster listing that will rank as the biggest IPO ever and make it one of the most valuable finance firms on the planet. The fintech giant will have a market value of US$315 billion even before exercising its greenshoe option, based on filings Monday. That's about the same valuation as JPMorgan and four times larger than Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce will ask shareholders on Tuesday for 2 billion pounds (S$3.54 billion) in a make-or-break attempt to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, which has stopped planes flying and hammered its finances. Investors can buy 10 new shares for every three they own at 32 pence (S$0.57) each, a 41 per cent discount to the theoretical ex-rights price.

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