Market wrap: US stocks finished up after a choppy trading day as investors held out hope on Tuesday for deal to keep Greece in the euro even as it veered close to a potential debt default.
After starting with a rally and then turning negative along with European equities, Wall Street reversed course again in the afternoon on hopes that Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was showing signs of willingness to talk. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 23.16 points, or 0.13%, to 17,619.51, the S&P 500 gained 5.48 points, or 0.27%, to 2,063.12 and the Nasdaq added 28.40 points, or 0.57%, to 4,986.87.
Forex summary
TThe ringgit pared yesterday's losses to close firmer against the US dollar, bolsterd by commercial demand, dealers said. - Bernama
*The local currency rises 0.29% to 3.7733 per US$
*It rises 0.07% to 4.2045 per euro
*Up 0.19% to 5.9323 to the pound sterling
*0.02% down to 2.8039 per Singapore dollar
*0.05% higher to 2.8964 per Aussie
*Down 0.09% to 3.0829 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices ended higher as it rebounded from three-week lows on Tuesday with US refined fuel trading leading the rally on bets for strong summer demand, even as Greece's move toward a debt default threatened to jolt global markets. Brent crude settled up US$1.58, or 2.6%, at US$63.59 a barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign news
US economy nearing full employment, bounced back in second quarter: Fed's Fischer: The US economy probably bounced back to an annual growth rate of around 2.5% in the second quarter, and the labour market is approaching full employment, Federal Reserve vice-chairman Stanley Fischer said on Tuesday. He said "tentative" signs of wage growth and continued job creation also gave him confidence that US labour markets will continue improving, and gradually push inflation towards the Fed's 2% target. - Reuters
Singapore to ease banks’ local and offshore regulations: Singapore will relax rules that currently require banks to segregate their domestic and international operations into separate accounting entities, as part of moves to simplify its banking regulations. “If we continue with the divide, it would merely impose undue administrative burden on banks, without materially enhancing prudential soundness or systemic stability,” Tharman Shanmugaratnam, deputy prime minister and chairman of Singapore’s central bank said. - Reuters
US consumer confidence rises: US consumer confidence increased solidly in June, with households upbeat about the labor market, supporting views the economy was back on firmer footing after wobbling at the start of the year. The Conference Board said its index of consumer attitudes rose to a reading of 101.4 this month from 94.6 in May. - Reuters
Oil likely to stay stable for rest of 2015: Oil prices are likely to be stable for the rest of this year and climb in 2016 and 2017 as global demand picks up, shrugging off setbacks from the Greek debt crisis and the possible lifting of sanctions on Iran, a Reuters poll forecast on Tuesday. The monthly survey of 31 analysts showed North Sea Brent crude is expected to average US$62 a barrel in 2015, more than US$2 above its average price of US$59.29 so far this year. - Reuters
Virgin Atlantic to cut 500 jobs: Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, owned by its British billionaire founder Richard Branson, is cutting about 500 jobs as it seeks to reduce costs and improve its financial resilience, the Wall Street Journal reported. The cuts will be done through layoffs, moving staff, or not filling vacancies and will be implemented by the end of the year, the report said. The airline is looking to boost earnings after it reported a 14.4 million pounds (US$22.62 million) profit for 2014, its first in four years. - Reuter
Top local stories
MRCB tipped to get RM1bil stadium job: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) is tipped to refurbish the various sports facilities at the National Sports Complex (NSC) in Bukit Jalil, including the 17-year-old Bukit Jalil Stadium, which is the main venue for sporting events in the country. Sources said the refurbishment work could cost up to RM1bil and in return, MRCB would get parcels of land in the vicinity of the NSC for development if the proposal is approved. - StarBiz
KEuro gets financing for WCE highway project: West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd (WCE) has inked a RM4.74bil loan and debt notes from the Government and local banks to fund its RM5.9bil West Coast Expressway project. The company, which is 80%-owned by Kumpulan Europlus Bhd (KEuro), signed a RM2.24bil government support loan facility agreement and RM1.5bil from RHB Investment Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd
. - StarBiz
UEM Sunrise sells Johor building for RM138mil: UEM Sunrise Bhd unit UEM Land Bhd has sold the Imperia Building in Nusajaya, a newly-built office block with a retail area, to UEM Group Bhd (UEMG) for RM137.8mil cash. The company said the gross proceeds of RM130mil (excluding the goods and services tax) would be used to redeem part of the 450 million redeemable convertible preference shares issued by Bandar Nusajaya Development Sdn Bhd, a unit of UEM Land, to UEMG within the next six months. - StarBiz
Shell mulls option: Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) Bhd (SRC) is considering an outright sale of Shell Overseas Holding Ltd’s 51% stake in SRC or converting the business to a storage terminal and export facility. The company aimed to make a decision on what to do by year-end, said SRC chairman Iain Lo. - StarBiz
Yinson earnings hurt by forex losses: Yinson Holdings Bhd’s net profit for its first quarter plunged 65% to RM10.45mil due to foreign exchange (forex) losses and weaker performance of its non-core businesses. Net profit for its floating production, storage and offloading vessels and offshore support vessels arm, however, registered 11% growth to RM40.6mil.“Forex losses this quarter were at RM29miI because the ringgit was stronger at 3.56 against the US dollar,” group chief executive officer Lim Chern Yuan said. - StarBiz
Lysaght MD re-elected: The highly-anticipated AGM of Lysaght Galvanized Steel Bhd turned out to be a muted affair as its managing director Liew Hoi Foo was re-elected, dousing any suggestions of a family feud within the company. - StarBiz
Berjaya Corp net loss widens: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp), which saw its net loss widened to RM274.9mil in the fourth quarter, expects operating performance for the group to be challenging for the financial year ending April 30, 2016, given the current economic outlook. For the full year, BCorp reported a net profit of RM861.7mil compared with a net loss of RM148.9mil in the same period a year ago. The group registered an improvement in revenue to RM9.6bil from RM8.73bil in the previous financial year. -StarBiz
1MDB land spurs interest: 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) land parcels have generated a lot of interest. In two separate statements, 1MDB said it had received “a lot of enquiries for its Bandar Malaysia land” and “proposals” for its land in Air Itam in Penang and Pulau Indah near Port Kiang, Selangor. It plans to appoint a real estate consultant to evaluate several proposals to buy its Penang and Selangor land. As for Bandar Malaysia, it wants to work with equity partners to develop the 486 acres. - StarBiz
George Kent to grow order book: Water meter manufacturer and construction outfit George Kent (M) Bhd aims to grow its order book to RM2bil- RM3bil this year. With an order book of RM1.5bil now, the company hoped to replenish this amount by bidding for more infrastructure jobs relating to water and sewerage, and construction of hospitals, railway and the upcoming MRT 2 project, among others. - StarBiz
Xin Hwa makes strong debut: Xin Hwa Holdings Bhd, which made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday, will expand its existing businesses as a total logistics provider.
The company's shares opened 9 sen higher at 79 sen, with a first traded volume of 2.438 million shares. - StarBiz
No downgrade for Malaysia by Fitch: Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on Malaysia’s sovereign rating to “stable” from “negative”, and affirmed the country’s long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating at “A-”, with local currency IDR at “A”. The review is in sharp contrast to the market’s expectation of a downgrade by as much as two notches on Malaysia’s credit rating following the rating agency’s earlier remark in March that it may do so because of a worsening trade balance and that a state investment company was struggling to meet debt obligations. - Edge FD
Ikhmas Jaya expects double-digit revenue growth: Bore piling and bridging specialist Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd, which plans to list on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on July 27, expects double-digit revenue growth this year. Ikhmas Jaya chief financial officer Lum Yuet Ngoh said growth would be supported by the existing order book of RM346 million and new projects that the company is expected to clinch. - Edge FD
Events calender:
China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing releases the official non-manufacturing PMI for June (0100 GMT).
The June Nomura/JMMA Manufacturing PMI release (0135 GMT).
Markit Economics' UK Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for June released (0835 GMT).
The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for The for June released by the Markit Economics (1345 GMT)
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