Tesla and other tech shares roared back to life on Wall Street Tuesday, powering higher after a period of weakness as Congress neared final passage of a US$1.9 trillion economic aid package. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index ended 3.7 per cent higher at 13,073.82. The index has underperformed the Dow in recent sessions as investors have steered funds into industrial, banking and other sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 31,832.74, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.4 per cent to 3,985.44. Tech giants, which have outperformed the broader market through most of the pandemic, have been under pressure in recent weeks.

SG

Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT) have entered into a stalking-horse agreement with a bidder, as they seek to sell their properties as part of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US. Fifteen out of 18 of the properties in EHT's portfolio that are owned by the Chapter 11 entities are up for sale. A "stalking-horse" agreement effectively sets an opening price or "price floor" to protect the company selling the assets from low bids. Other potential buyers would have to submit higher or otherwise better competing bids.

Top Glove Corporation (SGX: BVA) saw its second-quarter net profit surge to RM2.87 billion (S$938.4 million), about 25 times that of RM115.7 million posted in the year-ago period. This came as the mainboard-listed glove manufacturer recorded its highest-ever quarterly sales revenue of RM5.37 billion, quadrupling from RM1.23 billion the year before. Sales volume was also on the uptrend, up 19 per cent year on year, Top Glove said in a statement on Tuesday. The results translate to earnings per share (EPS) of 35.77 sen for the three months ended Feb 28, 2021, 21 times the adjusted EPS of 1.67 sen a year ago.

ComfortDelGro (SGX:C52) surged on Tuesday following last Friday's news of the government's intention to review the financing framework for the Downtown Line (DTL). After closing S$0.03 or 1.9 per cent higher at S$1.64 on Monday, the transport operator continued its climb from Tuesday's open, adding S$0.07 or 4.3 per cent from the open to hit an intraday high of S$1.71 as at 10.07am with some 15.5 million shares changing hands. The counter later eased to close at S$1.70, up S$0.06 or 3.7 per cent. According to data from ShareInvestor, no married deals were recorded for the day.

Theretail tranche of the latest issuance of private equity bonds, Astrea VI, was launched on Tuesday with a fixed interest rate of 3 per cent per annum. In a briefing on Tuesday, Azalea Asset Management said S$250 million worth of the lowest-risk Class A-1 bonds will be open for subscription from 9am on Wednesday (March 10). The offer will close at noon on March 16. Applications will be in multiples of S$1,000 with a minimum of S$2000. The public offer follows the successful placement of S$132 million worth of Class A-1 bonds; US$228 million of Class A-2 bonds and US$130 million of Class B bonds to institutional and accredited investors. The placement was seven times subscribed.

US

Weeks after GameStop (US: GME) found its stock at the center of a speculative fever that rocked Wall Street, the video game retailer's share price was climbing again on Tuesday. Less than an hour before New York trading was to conclude, GameStop stock had climbed 22.9 per cent to around US$238, which was 75 per cent higher for the week thus far. GameStop reached massive highs around six weeks ago as retail traders organized on social networking website Reddit drove the share price up, in a campaign aimed at squeezing wealthy investors who had bet against the company and sold the stock short.

On Tuesday Disney (US:DIS) CEO Bob Chapek revealed the streaming service surpassed the benchmark in just 16 months since its launch and Disney+ has topped 100 million global subscribers. “The enormous success of Disney+, which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers, has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” Chapek said in statement.

Roblox almost tripled payouts to developers last year, while revenue didn’t quite double, as the company aims to get top creators to spend more of their time building for the app. More than 1,250 developers made at least $10,000 last year through virtual sales in their Roblox games. The company is scheduled to go public through a direct listing on Wednesday, after raising money in January at a $29.5 billion valuation.

Chevron(US: CVX) CEO Michael Wirth told CNBC the company has not spoken to Berkshire Hathaway after the conglomerate took a stake in the oil giant. “I can’t infer anything other than their investment decision would suggest that there’s some confidence in the long-term future of our company,” Wirth said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” regarding Berkshire’s (US: BRK.B) investment. Chevron was one of Berkshire’s top 10 holdings as of the end of 2020.

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