Asia stocks are set to open firmer after U.S. equities bounced off session lows, with rapid progress in the U.S. vaccine rollout overshadowing the risk of further fallout from recent block sales. Futures pointed up in Japan and Hong Kong. Australian shares edged higher. S&P 500 Index futures rose after President Joe Biden's announcement that 90% of adults will be eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine next month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at another all-time peak. Financials dragged the S&P 500 slightly lower, amid revelations that some major banks liquidated holdings in Bill Hwang's Archegos Capital Management after he failed to meet margin calls. The dollar held gains, and the yen traded at its weakest levels in a year.

SG

Quicker recovery in its Australian malls has helped to boost SPH Reit's first-half performance, as the trust reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.24 cents for its second quarter, culminating in a DPU of 2.44 cents for the first-half period. This is an improvement from the 1.68 cents paid out a year ago. For the six months ended Feb 28, 2021, SPH Reit's gross revenue increased 4.9 per cent on the year to S$140 million, bolstered by Westfield Marion Shopping Centre's first full half-year contribution, versus just three months of contribution a year ago.

The Singapore High Court on March 19 issued a winding up order against Eagle Hospitality Reit Management (EHRM) - the previous manager of Eagle Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (EH-Reit) - on the grounds of insolvency, and ordered the appointment of liquidators for EHRM.

Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) will spend about 14.41 billion rupees (S$268.2 million) to acquire two buildings in an IT park located in Hebbal, Bangalore, as part of a forward purchase agreement with Gardencity Realty. The total purchase consideration depends on certain factors, including final rentals achieved, the trustee-manager said in a bourse filing on Monday. The two buildings are part of a project comprising three buildings spread across two land parcels with an aggregate net leasable area (NLA) of about 2.26 million square feet (sq ft).

Gold miner and explorer Shen Yao Holdings (previously known as LionGold) has agreed to buy up to 3.55 million shares, or a 20.25 per cent stake, in loss-making property analytics firm Real Estate Analytics (REA) for about S$8.8 million from Wodabow Pte Ltd and its sole director Jean-Michel Paul.

Property Group Hong Fok Corporation, whose shares have spiked on a bullish commentary in The Straits Times (ST), on Monday evening said that contrary to what was written in the article, there was no current intention by the board to explore or undertake any privatisation or delisting.

US

The vast container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for six days was freed and began moving north to an anchor point Monday, opening the critical waterway, as hopes grew that global supply delays will ease. Engineers raced throughout the day to finish the job of dislodging the Ever Given after partially refloating the ship at dawn, taking advantage of an unusually high tide to make the job easier.

A fire sale of stocks from a large U.S. investor slammed global investment banks Credit Suisse Group AG and Nomura Holdings Inc., which said they could incur substantial losses related to the trades. Shares in Nomura fell 16%, a record single-day drop. Credit Suisse’s stock tumbled 13%, its biggest fall since last March. In recent days, losses at Archegos Capital Management, run by former Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang, have triggered the liquidation of positions approaching $30 billion in value, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Facebook and Google are planning to lay two huge subsea cables that will link the U.S. West Coast to Singapore and Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and home to a growing number of smartphone users. The Echo and Bifrost trans-Pacific cables will increase the data capacity between the regions by 70% and improve internet reliability, Facebook said Monday.

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