The ringgit declined 0.73% to 3.8070 versus the US dollar at 2.50pm.
Top foreign stories
Eurozone in tailspin after Greece votes‘No’ to bailout: European leaders were scrambling for a response today after a resounding “No” from Greek voters in a momentous referendum on austerity which could send the country crashing out of the eurozone. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to meet with French leader Francois Hollande in Paris after Greece overwhelmingly rejected international creditors’ tough bailout terms on Sunday. The pair spoke by telephone late Sunday, declaring the decision must “be respected” and calling for an emergency eurozone summit which European Union president Donald Tusk said would be held tomorrow. A flurry of other meetings will also be held today as European leaders sized up the implications of the vote. — AFP
Tsipras: the premier playing roulette with Greece’s future: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday got the public boost he sought to keep alive his government’s tightrope talks with the country’s EU-IMF creditors, but the consequences of his gamble remain unclear. For some he is a master strategist who has called the bluff of Greece’s creditors by giving the people the final say on a painful debt deal. To others he is a clueless novice, who has taken Greece into uncharted waters by hurriedly calling a vote that could send the country crashing out of the eurozone. — AFP
Greek finance minister resigns: Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, whose forceful denunciations of creditors alienated many of his eurozone colleagues, resigned today, saying Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras believed that it would help smooth the path to a new aid deal. His resignation comes after Greeks delivered a resounding ‘No’ to the conditions of a rescue package with international creditors, casting the country into uncharted waters and a possible exit from Europe’s common currency. — Reuters
British banks call on govt to phase out industry levy: Britain’s banks have called upon the government to phase out the bank levy, saying it is damaging the competitiveness of the industry and causing them to lose business to overseas rivals. The levy was initially introduced in 2011 not only to raise money but also to discourage banks from risky borrowing, replacing a previous one-off tax on bankers’ bonuses by the Labour government following the 2007-9 financial crisis. — Reuters
China throws developers a lifeline: Dismayed by the millions of unsold homes in China’s troubled real estate market, the Chinese government is taking matters into its own hands: by buying some properties and turning them into public housing. — Reuters
Top local news
JAKS joint ventures with China Power: JAKS Resources Bhd
has roped in China Power Engineering Consulting Group Co Ltd to build its power plant in Vietnam costing US$1.87bil (RM7.05bil). JAKS said the investment would be in a two 600-MW coal-fired plant wherein JAKS would invest RM528.81mil and its joint-venture partner China Power RM1.2bil. — StarBiz
OSK Holdings shareholders okay OSK Property, PJ Development buys: Shareholders of OSK Holdings Bhd have approved the proposed acquisition of 72.4% OSK Property Holdings Bhd and 31.6% equity interest in PJ Development Bhd. OSK Holdings will also make general offers to acquire the remaining shares and outstanding warrants in OSK Property and PJ Development from minority shareholders. The exercise would see OSK Holdings emerging as a first-tier property company in Malaysia with a total gross development value of RM13.3bil. — StarBiz
Public Bank beefs up ties with 2 Japan banks: Public Bank Bhd today inked a memorandum of understanding with two Japanese banks, Saitama Resona Bank Ltd and Kinki Osaka Bank Ltd, to promote and strengthen cooperation. Saitama Resona and Kinki Osaka are units of Resona Holdings Inc, which also owns Resona Bank Ltd, the fourth largest banking group in Japan. — StarBiz
Public Mutual launches new fund: Public Mutual has launched a new fund, PB Dividend Builder Equity Fund, which seeks to provide income by investing in a portfolio of stocks that offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields. Public Mutual CEO Yeoh Kim Hong said that prices of dividend yielding stocks are more stable and generally outperform the broader market during volatile market conditions. — StarBiz
Matrade makes RM40mil sales: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) achieved RM39.63mil sales at the incoming buying mission (IBM) held in conjunction with the APHM International Healthcare Conference and Exhibition 2015 here on June 15-16. — Bernama
Foreign shoppers spend RM4.9bil in Q1: A total of RM4.9bil was spent by 6.5 million foreign shoppers in the country in the first three months of this year, up 11.4% from RM4.4bil a year earlier, said Tourism Malaysia deputy director general (planning) Chong Yoke Har. — Bernama
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