Market wrap: Wall Street ended lower on Monday as tumbling oil prices dragged energy shares to a three-year low and factory data from China raised concerns about the world's second-biggest economy. - Reuters
The DJIA fell 0.52% to end at 17,598.2. The S&P 500 lost 0.28% to 2,098.04 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.25% to 5,115.38.
Forex summary
*The local currency lost 0.54% to 3.8518 per US$
*It fell 0.83% to 4.2256 per euro
*Down 0.89% to 6.0174 to the pound sterling
*0.46% down to 2.7962 per Singapore dollar
*0.83% lower to 2.8094 per Aussie
*Down 0.07% to 3.1077 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices lurched 5% lower on Monday to their lowest since January, taking global benchmark Brent below US$50 a barrel as weak factory activity in China deepened a commodity-wide rout. Brent, the global benchmark for crude, settled down US$2.69, or 5.2%, at US$49.52 a barrel. Brent's session bottom of US$49.36 was within striking range of its 2015 low of US$49.19. - Reuters
Top foreign news
Greek stocks plunge, banks hammered: Greece's stock market closed with heavy losses on Monday after a five-week shutdown brought on by fears that the country was about to be dumped from the eurozone. Bank shares plummeted 30% before loss limits kicked in to stop investors selling any more. The main Athens stock index ended down 16.2%, recovering slightly after plunging nearly 23% at the open. - Reuters
Britain starts RBS sell-off with 2 billion pounds stake sale: Britain started the sale of a 2 billion pounds stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Monday, beginning the disposal of its holding in the bank seven years after a multi-billion pound bailout at the height of the financial crisis. UK Financial Investments said it would sell about 600 million shares, representing 5.2% of the bank, in a quick-fire sale to institutional investors after the market closed. - Reuters
US factory activity dips: US factory activity slipped in July and consumer spending advanced at its slowest pace in four months in June, indicating the economy lost some momentum recently. The Institute for Supply Management said its national factory activity index fell to 52.7 last month from 53.5 in June. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing. - Reuters
Ex-trader Hayes jailed for 14 years by London court for Libor rigging: Ex-trader Tom Hayes was sentenced to 14 years in jail by a London court on Monday after being found guilty of conspiring to rig Libor benchmark interest rates following a seven-year global investigation. - Reuters
Top local stories
Pressure remains: At RM3.85 to the US dollar, the selling pressure on the ringgit remains unabated on the back of two probable developments – first, the widely speculated put option that traders had gone into a few months ago offering RM4 for every US dollar. The second is the arbitrage difference between the non-deliverable forward (NDF) ringgit offshore contract versus the onshore ringgit forward contract. A s of yesterday, the one-month NDF off- shore had an implied yield of 8.2% versus the onshore forward yield of 3.2%. - StarBiz
Yong Tai signs five MoUs: Garment-maker-turned-property developer Yong Tai Bhd
has entered into five separate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to acquire land and businesses that can provide the company with five potential property development projects in the Klang Valley, Malacca and Johor. Yong Tai told Bursa the five projects were expected to carry a combined gross development value (GDV) of RM7bil over the next eight years. - StarBiz
SapKen plans JV in Brunei: SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd (SapKen) has proposed to establish a joint-venture (JV) company via its wholly owned subsidiary to explore opportunities in Brunei. SapKen said its unit, SapuraKencana (B) Sdn Bhd (SapKen Brunei), had entered into a shareholders’ agreement with Euthalia Energy Solutions Sdn Bhd and the JV company RSK Petroleum Sdn Bhd for the collaboration. Under the deal, SapKen Brunei would own a 70% stake in RSK, while Euthalia would own the remainder 30% stake. - StarBiz
Bursa raps and fines stockbroker: Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has publicly reprimanded and fined stockbroker Hong Choe Hoar for engaging in manipulative dealings in Kanger International Bhd securities. In addition to an RM65,000 fine, Hong would also be suspended for 12 months as a registered person of Bursa Malaysia Securities. - StarBiz
HLIB queried over sharp rise in share price: Hong Leong Industries Bhd (HLIB) has been issued an unusual market activity (UMA) query on the recent sharp increase of its share price. In response to the query, HLIB said it was unaware of any corporate development that would account for the trading activity. - StarBiz
AirAsia signs pacts with Thai, Indonesia units: In a move to enhance the disclosures in the services provided by AirAsia Bhd to its subsidiaries in Indonesia and Thailand, the low-cost carrier entered into an agreement that clearly spells out the terms between the parties, including the payments. - StarBiz
JAKS JV wins Vietnam power plant job: Pipe-maker JAKS Resources Bhd has bagged a contract from China Power Engineering Consulting Group Co Ltd and Golden Keel Holdings Ltd to build a US$1.87bil (RM7.05bil) power plant in Hai Duong province in Vietnam. - StarBiz
UEM Sunrise wraps up Melbourne tower purchase: Property developer UEM Sunrise Bhd has completed the acquisition of a 21-storey office tower in Melbourne, Australia, for A$58mil (RM161mil). The company said the 172,223-sq-ft building located on the strategic site of St Kilda Road was one of the main routes into Melbourne’s central business district. - StarBiz
Structured warrants market growing fast: Macquarie Securities Group is looking to ramp up the public’s inter- est in structured warrants as Malaysia is the fastest growing structured warrants market in Asia despite ongoing challenging global and domestic environments. - StarBiz
RHB: No merger plans with AmBank Group: RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) said there is no plan currently to enter into merger discussions with AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group). The fourth largest lender in the country was responding to a news report yesterday that it may revisit earlier plans to merge with AmBank Group, the nation’s fifth largest lender by assets. - DigitalEdge
Dayang’s offer for Perdana ‘fair and reasonable’: Perdana Petroluem Bhd’s shareholders have been advised to accept Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd’s offer for PPB shares at RM1.55, as the offer is deemed “fair and reasonable” by its independent adviser, AmInvestment Bank. In an independent advice circular yesterday, AmInvestment said the price of RM1.55 for each PPB share is higher than its range of eq- uity value, while the 84 sen per offer warrant is higher than the theoretical value of PPB warrants. - DigitalEdge
TPC Plus gets Bursa nod for regularisation plan: Main Market-listed TPC Plus Bhd has received Bursa Malaysia’s approval for its regularisation plan to help lift it out of its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status. The egg producer was classified as a PN17 company on Feb 28, 2014, after its auditors had expressed concern over TPC which posted a net loss of RM4.1mil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2013. - DigitalEdge
Events calendar
Redbook Research Inc releases the Johnson Redbook Index (1255 GMT).
The factory orders for June released by the US Census Bureau (1400 GMT)
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