1 Malaysian palm oil futures surged to a two-year high on persistent worries that a crop-damaging El Nino weather event would curb yields, Reuters reported.

2 China's fourth biggest oil producer, Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group, is cutting investments and salaries because of the oil price crash, Bloomberg reported sources as saying.

3 China's Big Four state-run banks are set to report flat annual earnings growth after about a decade of strong profitability, as a surge in bad loans continued unabated while economic expansion weakened, Reuters said.

4 Mermaid Maritime has won a US$10 million (S$13.7 million) contract. Its Qatari unit is taking an additional subsea cable installation and related diving services assignment for an existing customer.

5 Terratech Group plans to place out up to 74 million new shares at 4.05 cents apiece to raise about $3 million for exploring strategic investments, the marble producer said.