Asian stocks looked set to drop after U.S. shares fell from a record, oil slumped and Treasury yields touched the highest levels in more than a year amid concern the Federal Reserve will allow inflation to accelerate.

Oil plunged more than 9% at one point in part on concerns that new virus-related curbs in Europe will sap demand. A spike in U.S. Treasury yields drove the 10-year benchmark to 1.75% for the first time since January 2020. Australian yields rose in early trade.

SG:

Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) has completed the acquisition of five freehold logistics properties in South Korea for 280 billion won (S$334.8 million). Mapletree Logistics Trust Management, the manager of the Singapore-based property trust, said this in a statement to the Singapore Exchange on Thursday, by way of an update on the purchase announced in February.

Yanlord Land Group has been given an outlook rating of "stable", an improvement from "negative", by S&P Global Ratings. The credit rating agency said: "The stable outlook reflects our view that Yanlord will moderately grow its contracted sales and accelerate project delivery, while better managing its debt-funded land replenishments over the next 12-24 months."

Singapore O&G is establishing a postpartum confinement centre in Johor under a newly-formed venture, in which it will pump in RM1.96 million (S$640,000) for a 49 per cent stake and two board seats. The Catalist-listed firm stated in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it had entered into a joint venture agreement earlier in the day with LYC Mother & Child Centre to incorporate a special purpose vehicle to set up a postpartum confinement centre with up to 130 beds in Johor.

US:

US mortgage rates rose for a fifth straight week, reaching the highest level in nearly in nine months. The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 3.09 per cent, up from 3.05 per cent last week and the highest since June 25, Freddie Mac data showed Thursday.

Applications for US jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, to the highest since mid-February, underscoring how the labour market is recovering in fits and starts. Initial claims in regular state programmes rose by 45,000 to 770,000 in the week ended March 13, Labor Department data showed Thursday. On an unadjusted basis, the claims rose by 24,318 to 746,496. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for 700,000 initial claims.

Morgan Stanley plans to offer wealthy clients access to three funds that will enable ownership of bitcoin, according to a person familiar with the matter. Galaxy Digital runs two of the funds, and the third is overseen by FS Investments and NYDIG, the person said, asking not to be identified because the move hasn't been announced publicly.

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