Asian stocks are set for a muted open Tuesday as the earnings season unfolds and amid expectations the Federal Reserve will remain accommodative at its meeting this week despite robust growth.

Futures in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong were little changed. U.S. contracts traded in the green after the S&P 500 Index notched another record amid solid corporate earnings, with most of the main 11 industry groups gaining. Tesla Inc. shares slipped in after-hours trade after the firm reported a profits beat but left the multiyear outlook for growth in deliveries unchanged.

SG:

Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) saw its net property income (NPI) rise 66.6 per cent in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 to S$247.1 million from S$172.1 million a year ago, reported its manager in a business update on Monday morning. Gross revenue rose 63.9 per cent year on year to S$334.8 million from S$204.3 million in Q1 2020. The improved revenue and NPI for Q1 were mainly due to higher integrated development performance compared to the previous year, as well as after factoring in income contribution from office assets starting from Oct 21, 2020.

Supermarket operator Sheng Siong on Monday posted a net profit of S$30.9 million for its first quarter ended March 31, a rise of 6.5 per cent from the S$29 million recorded the preceding year. The group's revenue for the quarter also went up 2.7 per cent year on year, from S$328.7 million in Q1 FY20 to S$337.5 million in Q1 FY21. Sheng Siong noted that the slight increase in revenue for the quarter was "contributed entirely" by revenue growth in new stores that opened last year. A total of five new stores were opened in FY2020.

Wealth management platform iFast Corporation on Monday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, iFast Financial, has entered into a business transfer agreement with DWS Investments Singapore (DWS) for the transfer of its fund management business relating to its Singapore mutual funds platform, comprising seven authorised retail funds. The purchase consideration for the transaction is about S$3 million, based on the fair value of the assets being acquired, said the company in a bourse filing. Currently, assets under management of the funds stand at some S$600 million.

US:

ExxonMobil's strategy in the face of climate change poses an "existential business risk" to the company, according to an activist hedge fund that is a shareholder in the oil giant, a report in the Financial Times said Sunday. The company, which has been criticised over the last year for both its financial performance and its approach to renewable energy investment, "has no credible plan to protect value in an energy transition," hedge fund Engine No. 1 said in an 80-page investor presentation.

The most popular currency trade at the beginning of the year has splintered as Wall Street takes to opposing sides on the fate of the dollar in the world's pandemic recovery. JPMorgan Asset Management and T. Rowe Price see the dollar weakening as US economic exceptionalism wanes, while PineBridge Investments expects it to strengthen. Currencies from the euro to the Brazilian real - which suffered in the first quarter - have attempted rallies this month, leaving the greenback sitting at a closely-watched technical crossroads.

Tesla reported a jump in first-quarter profits on Monday on surging electric vehicle sales, and the manufacturer said it was on track to boost automotive capacity at factories in three countries. Elon Musk's electric car company has faced questions in recent days following a fatal car crash in Texas and sharp criticism of the company on social media in China. But Monday's results were strong as Tesla essentially maintained its output from the fourth quarter despite "multiple" challenges that included the semiconductor shortage that has roiled the auto industry worldwide.

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