Asian stocks looked poised for a cautious start Thursday after U.S. shares slipped on disappointing economic data. The dollar retreated. Australian shares opened with declines, while futures pointed lower in Japan and slightly higher in Hong Kong. The S&P 500 Index pulled back from an all-time high, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 30,000. Treasuries were little changed, while oil rose.

INDIA'S central bank has formally approved a proposed scheme through which South-east Asia's largest lender DBS will take over the cash-strapped Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). The amalgamation of LVB with DBS Bank India Limited will be effective as of Nov 27, said DBS in a bourse filing on Wednesday night. DBS will inject INR2,500 crore (S$463 million) into its wholly-owned India unit to support the transaction.

DASIN Retail Trust's revenue fell 7.5 per cent for the third quarter ended Sept 30, the trustee-manager said in a business update posted on Wednesday. This was based on revenue in yuan, and excluded rental income recognised on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The change was also calculated on the basis that revenue from Doumen Metro Mall, which was acquired in September last year, was excluded; revenue from Shunde Metro Mall and Tanbei Metro Mall, both acquired in July this year, was also excluded from Q3 FY20 total revenue.

CROMWELL European Real Estate Investment Trust (Cromwell E-Reit) has entered into an agreement via a wholly-owned vehicle to acquire a logistics park in Italy for 52.6 million euros (S$84.2 million). The freehold intermodal logistics park with 156,888 square metres (sq m) of net lettable area (NLA) will add around 10 per cent to Cromwell E-Reit's overall portfolio NLA, the manager of Cromwell E-Reit said in an exchange filing on Wednesday morning.

THE manager of SPH Reit has said it will not change its approach to acquisition, even with the unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic. In its response to questions from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS), the manager said that while the turmoil in the retail real estate market caused by Covid-19 may present acquisition opportunities, the Reit will continue to exercise care and due consideration.

THE mandatory offer for construction firm Lum Chang Holdings has turned unconditional, as the total shares owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by the offeror and its concert parties amounted to around 51.8 per cent of total shares as at 10.31am on Wednesday, according to an exchange filing. A mandatory conditional cash offer had been triggered after Lum Chang managing director David Lum's firm, Beverian Holdings Pte Ltd, purchased a 0.2 per cent stake in Lum Chang on the open market on Nov 17.

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