Stocks saw renewed pressure at the start of a crucial week that could set the tone for the remainder of the year, with the U.S. election and a Federal Reserve policy meeting. Oil tumbled about 5%.

S&P 500 futures were lower and the dollar edged higher. Australian shares erased early gains with global equities coming off the back of two months of losses. The pound slipped as increased restrictions in England aimed at controlling the coronavirus overshadowed signs of progress on Brexit. Traders will later watch the release of data on Chinese manufacturing for any clues on the trajectory of the recovery there after official readings at the weekend topped estimates.

A joint venture of Yanlord Land Group has acquired two prime residential integrated development sites in Jingan District of Shanghai for 4.2 billion yuan (S$859.8 million), the property developer said in a bourse filing on Friday. Yanlord entered into the joint venture with Huafa Industrial Co Ltd Zhuhai through an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, and holds an effective interest of 30 per cent in the joint venture.

Tencent Holdings led a US$50 million investment in real-time communications software developer Zego, underscoring widespread interest in online education and videoconferencing in the post-pandemic era.The Shenzhen-based startup's financing round was also joined by existing backers Qiming Venture Partners and IDG Capital, Zego said. The company - now part of Tencent's massive investment portfolio - didn't disclose its latest valuation.

Westpac Banking Corp on Monday slashed its annual dividend and reported a 62 per cent plunge in cash earnings due to write-downs and a record A$1.3 billion (S$1.24 billion) fine over a money-laundering case. The fine to settle a lawsuit accusing Westpac of enabling millions of payments to people exploiting children brought an end to a difficult chapter for Australia's oldest bank, which saw it lose about a third of its value since the bombshell announcement in November last year.

Huawei Technologies plans to build a chip plant in Shanghai without using American technology, as China's biggest tech company by sales seeks a new strategy to overcome increasingly tight US sanctions, the Financial Times reported. The fabrication facility is expected to start with the manufacture of low-end 45nm chips, the paper said on Sunday, citing people familiar with the project. Huawei aims to make 28nm chips for "Internet of things" devices by the end of 2021, and produce 20nm chips for 5G telecom equipment by late 2022, the report said.

From Monday, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in financial distress because of the Covid-19 pandemic will be able to access the Sole Proprietors and Partnerships (SPP) Scheme and Extended Support Scheme - Customised (ESS-C) to restructure credit facilities and debts owed to multiple lenders. The two schemes, both launched on Sunday, are part of a package of extended relief measures announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and the Finance Houses Association of Singapore on Oct 5.

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