Asian markets are set to open higher on Friday after U.S. equities rose as investors weighed the outlook for economic growth and inflation and welcomed progress on vaccination rollouts. “Market sentiment remains fairly bullish, and volatility, by post-pandemic standards, is remarkable low,” said IG Markets analyst, Kyle Rodda. “At the moment – and indeed, this could be a level of complacency – the week’s choppiness in stocks has been taken in stride.” Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.30% in early trading, while MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.14%. Emerging market stocks lost 0.77%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.55% lower, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.02%. The Nikkei 225 index closed the overnight session up 1.14% at 28,729.88. The futures contract is up 0.52% from that close. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.37%.

SG

FORMER Catalist-listed private nursing home operator Econ Healthcare is looking to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange again. On Thursday, it lodged its preliminary prospectus - without pricing information - sharing its organic and inorganic expansion plans, such as by by merger and acquisitions as well as the upgrading of existing facilities. Econ Healthcare has two business segments - medicare centres and nursing homes; as well as other operations and ancillary services such as providing healthcare training services, offering traditional Chinese medicine services at its clinics, and operating senior activity centres in Singapore.

SEMBCORP Industries' wholly-owned unit Sembcorp Fuels (Singapore), hasbeen appointed by the Energy Market Authority as a new term liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer for Singapore, allowing it to import and sell regasified LNG to customers in the market. Sembcorp, Singapore's first commercial importer of natural gas, has been building its core capabilities in gas import and retail over the last two decades. "This appointment will enable Sembcorp to augment its offer of a diverse portfolio of energy generation sources and supplies in Singapore that now includes LNG, piped natural gas, biomass, waste, as well as solar," it said. Sembcorp is also Singapore's largest natural gas supplier and leading solar energy provider, and believes it is able to contribute to the nation's energy transformation.

DBS announced that it has partnered Chubb Insurance to offer DBS/POSB customers free insurance for unexpected complications arising from the Covid-19 vaccine. Launched on Thursday, Covid-19 Vaccine Protect will extend S$100 per day for up to 14 days of hospital confinement and a lump sum payout of S$1,000 for ICU (intensive care unit) confinement in case of either complications arising from vaccinations or contraction of the virus. The policy also includes a lump sum bereavement assist benefit of S$10,000 for both cases. The 14-day vaccination cover commences on the date of each shot or before Dec 31, 2021, and is limited to two doses. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 coverage is valid for 30 days commencing on the date of application.

US

Robinhood Markets Inc is building a platform to “democratize” initial public offerings (IPOs), including its own, that would allow users of its trading app to snap up shares alongside Wall Street funds, according to people familiar with the matter. The move could further erode Wall Street’s grip on stock market flotations. It would be easier to implement for Robinhood’s own IPO, given how companies and their investment bankers tightly control allocations to investors in new listings. Currently, Robinhood users and other amateur traders cannot buy into stock of a newly listed company until its shares start trading. Since shares often trade higher when they debut, big funds that get allocations in the IPO have an advantage. The average first-day trading pop on U.S. listings of businesses in 2020 was 36%, according to data provider Dealogic.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled against Ford Motor Co in a case in which the second-largest U.S. automaker had sought to bar two state courts from hearing product liability suits involving a pair of serious crashes. Ford had appealed rulings by the top state courts in Montana and Minnesota that had allowed the litigation to proceed. The crashes occurred in those two states. Ford argued that the state courts should have jurisdiction only if its conduct in those states had given rise to the claims. The automaker also contended that since it designed the vehicles in Michigan, manufactured them in Kentucky and Canada and originally sold them in other states that Montana and Minnesota courts should not decide the cases.

GameStop and other so-called meme stocks surged on Thursday, as investors piled into the shares after a tumble in the previous session. Shares in video-game retailer GameStop closed up 52.7% at $183.75 with brisk trading volume after rising as high as $187.50 late in the session. The company’s shares remained down 8.2% for the week so far following losses after a lackluster earnings report late Tuesday during which the company disclosed it was evaluating the possibility of a share sale. They are up 875% year-to-date, though still far from their record high of $483 reached in late January. The company has benefited from a push by retail investors, often on online forums such as Reddit’s popular WallStreetBets, to drive up prices of stocks they believe undervalued.

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