European shares jumped to an eight-month high on Monday after drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech flagged strong progress in their Covid-19 vaccine, while Joe Biden's election victory raised hopes of a more stable US trade policy. Pfizer Inc and BioNTechSE said the experimental vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19, based on initial data from a large study. The pan-European Stoxx 600 jumped nearly 4 percent and clocked its best day since late March. Travel and leisure stocks, which have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, were among the best performing sectors, adding 7 percent to hit an eight-month high.

US shares revved higher on Monday on the news a coronavirus vaccine had shown 90 percent effectiveness, but after blasting through records early in the session, Wall Street closed with more modest gains. The bellwether Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped over 830 points or 2.95 percent to finish the day at 29,157.97, while the broader S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent to 3,550.5, about 30 points shy of a record.

But the tech-heavy Nasdaq reversed early gains and slipped 0.7 percent to close at 11,713.78, as firms that benefitted from the pandemic lost ground, including Zoom and Netflix.

President Donald Trump, who is refusing to concede election defeat, injected new volatility on Monday by firing his defence secretary, while President-elect Joe Biden made good on a promise to focus on leading the country out of the Covid-19 crisis.

Vicom posted a 5 percent slip in its profit after tax and minority interest (Patmi) for the third quarter ended Sept 30, from S$7.15 million a year ago to S$6.82 million. Revenue for the vehicle-inspection firm, a subsidiary of transport operator ComfortDelGro Corp, fell by 16 percent year-on-year (y-o-y), from S$26.4 million to S$22.2 million for the quarter.

Elite Commercial Reit on Monday posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.23 pence (S$0.02) for its third quarter, which is 1.7 percent higher than what it had forecast in its listing prospectus. For the three months ended Sept 30, it generated a post-tax profit of £3.3 million, a 5.6 percent drop from its forecast, on the back of a revenue of £5.8 million, which was a 0.5 percent dip from its earlier expectations.

Malaysia glove maker Riverstone Holdings on Monday announced that its net profit had grown five times to RM178.6 million (S$58.2 million) for its third quarter ended Sept 30, unhampered by rising packaging and raw material costs. Revenue rose 92 percent to RM482.3 million, due to the surge in global demand for personal protection equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to higher average selling prices of the group's healthcare examination gloves since June this year.

Neo Group's first-half attributable net profit grew more than five times to S$13.6 million for the period ended Sept 30, up from S$2.3 million a year ago. This was due to higher other income contributed by higher financial grants from the government, revenue growth from its core catering and manufacturing businesses, as well as an overall reduction in operating expenses including delivery, employee benefits, and advertising.

Offshore oil and gas contractor Dyna-Mac on Monday said it has secured fabrication projects for a total provisional sum of S$157.5 million. These contracts are for the fabrication of pipe spools and construction of topside modules for floating production storage offloading vessels, it said. The projects begin in the fourth quarter of this year and are expected to be completed by the second quarter of next year.

Sunningdale Tech's chairman Koh Boon Hwee is teaming up with Novo Tellus PE Fund 2 to make an offer for the precision plastic components manufacturer at S$1.55 in cash per share via a scheme of arrangement. This proposed acquisition was announced on Monday evening. Mr. Koh's entity, Sunrise Technology Investment Holding II, and a subsidiary of Novo Tellus PE Fund 2 hold a 64 percent and 36 percent stake respectively in the offeror company.

Oil surged about 8 percent on Monday, its biggest daily gain in more than five months after Pfizer announced promising results for its Covid-19 vaccine. Brent crude settled at US$42.40 a barrel, up US$2.95, or 7.48 percent, while US West Texas Intermediate crude settled at US$40.29 a barrel, rising US$3.15, or 8.48 percent.

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