Market wrap: Wall Street ended lower on Tuesday for a third straight session as investors worried about a rise in interest rates while Apple's shares hit their lowest in over six months. - Reuters
The DJIA fell 0.27%to end at 17,550.69 and the S&P 500 lost 0.22% to 2,093.32. The Nasdaq dropped 0.19% finish at 5,105.55.
Forex summary
*The local currency lost 0.02% to 3.8523 per US$
*It fell 0.01% to 4.2259 per euro
*Up 0.23% to 6.0038 to the pound sterling
*0.12% down to 2.7995 per Singapore dollar
*1.33% lower to 2.8469 per Aussie
*Down 0.05% to 3.0985 per 100 yen
Energy
Global crude prices rose from multi-month lows on Tuesday, helped by a stock market rally in No. 2 oil consumer China, but abundant supply and a weak demand outlook make crude's rebound unlikely to hold, traders and analysts said. Brent LCOc1 settled up 47 cents, or 1%, at US$49.99 a barrel. It hit a six-month low on Monday, coming within cents of its 2015 bottom of US$49.19. - Reuters
Top foreign news
Apple's momentum 'meltdown' bites investors: Has the "curse of the Dow" finally caught up with Apple? Shares of the iPhone maker have been in a rut since posting disappointing quarterly results in late June, falling to a six-month low of US$113.25 on Tuesday. The recent declines have wiped out nearly US$100bil of Apple's market value - about as much as fellow Dow components Boeing and McDonald's are worth in total. - Reuters
Greece and lenders strike upbeat tone, deal seen on bailout: Both Greece and its lenders said on Tuesday they were optimistic they could broker a deal within days on a multi-billion euro bailout, striking a surprisingly upbeat tone on a process previously fraught with bitterness. A bailout worth up to 86 billion euros (US$94.5bil) must be settled by Aug. 20 - or a second bridge loan agreed - if Greece is to pay off debt of 3.5 billion euros to the European Central Bank that matures on that day. - Reuters
IMF review recommends delaying currency basket adoption of yuan: The International Monetary Fund should put off any move to add the yuan to its Special Drawing Rights currency basket until September 2016, an IMF staff report said, a move that would effectively end the Chinese currency's chances of an early inclusion. The report said the implementation of any formal decision to add the yuan to a basket of currencies comprising dollars, euros, pounds and yen should be delayed so as not to disrupt financial market trading on the first day of 2016. - Reuters
UK takes one billion pounds hit in RBS sell-off: Britain took a 1.1 billion pound (US$1.7bil) loss on its first sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday, sparking accusations of poor timing from opposition politicians. The UK government sold a 5.4% stake in RBS at 330 pence per share, a third below the price paid when Britain rescued the bank with 45.8 billion pounds of taxpayer cash at the peak of the 2007/09 financial crisis. - Reuters
Drugmaker Shire bids US$30bil for Baxter spin-off Baxalta: Drugmaker Shire said on Tuesday it was seeking to buy Baxalta, a company spun-off by Baxter International last month, for US$30bill to forge the leading global specialist in rare diseases. The London-listed group went public with its approach after the U.S. firm turned it down during private talks last month. Baxalta rebuffed the offer on Tuesday and said in a statement that Shire's unsolicited offer significantly undervalued the company. - Reuters
Pfizer wins EU approval for US$15bil Hospira buy: US drugmaker Pfizer gained European Union antitrust approval on Tuesday for its proposed US$15bil acquisition of US rival Hospira after pledging to sell some drugs to allay competition concerns. - Reuters
Top local stories
Ringgit risk reverses: The difference in the trade between the offshore and onshore ringgit market narrowed yesterday, indicating that the volatility in the domestic currency has reduced for now.
As at yesterday evening, the offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) yield for the one-month tenure was at 4.99%, while the onshore one-month yield was at 3.29%, a dif- ference of 1.7%. A day earlier, the difference was almost 5%. - StarBiz
Hartalega
profit up 10%: Hartalega Holdings Bhd, the country’s biggest glove-maker in terms of market value, said first-quarter net profit climbed 9.8% to RM62.7mil, as it benefited from a weaker ringgit and cheaper raw material prices. Sales volume jumped 15.4% despite slower demand from China, a key export market. Revenue rose 14.8% to RM320.51mil. - StarBiz
Hibiscus unit gets concession in Egypt: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd unit Gulf Hibiscus Ltd has been awarded the South East Ras El Ush concession (Block 2) in Egypt by the Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Co, an entity of Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum. Hibiscus said the concession was an opportunity for the company to explore and develop in an area, one of the oldest producing basins in the world. - Bernama
PetGas names ex-Petronas chief chairman: Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) former president of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) president Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas as chairman. Separately the company said its net profit almost doubled in the second quarter to RM818mil. - StarBiz
FGV stake buy on track: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) has quashed speculation of a fallout in its acquisition of a 37% stake in PT Eagle High Plantations Tbk. Group president and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah maintained that the due diligence exercise on the Indonesian planter was on track and would likely be concluded by the end of this month. - StarBiz
F&N posts higher profit for third quarter: Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd’s (F&N) net profit for the third quarter grew 37% to RM82.93mil, while revenue increased to RM1.08bil from RM971.13mil a year earlier. - StarBiz
REDtone optimistic on new app: Telecommunications solutions provider REDtone International Bhd is banking on its new mobile application for the public to engage with local councils, CitiAct, to lift the group’s bottom line. Managing director Datuk Wei Chuan Beng said the group was confident the app would contribute about 5% to group revenue in the next three years and help propel the company’s growth. - StsrBiz
China is the way to go: By virtue of its size, China is a market that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must strive to tap into in order to achieve greater growth for their businesses, said Malaysian billionaire Goh Peng Ooi. The founder and executive chairman of Singapore-listed banking solutions provider Silverlake Axis Ltd said the opportunities that the Chinese market presented were so tremendous that ignoring them would be a huge mistake for companies intending to grow big. - StarBiz
U Mobile and ZTE to develop 5G networks: U Mobile Sdn Bhd and ZTE Corp have teamed up to drive the development of pre-5G and later, to implement 5G mobile network technologies in Malaysia. Under the partnership, U Mobile becomes the country’s first telco to enter the phase of 5G network development. - StarBiz
Higher CPO output expected on better FFB yields: Crude palm oil (CPO) production in July is anticipated to be higher, both on a monthly and yearly basis, mainly due to improving fresh fruit bunches (FFB) yields. “A survey of 20 Malaysian planters by the CIMB Futures team suggests that CPO production in July was 2.6% higher month-on-month and 7% year-on-year at 1.81 million tonnes,” said CIMB Research in a report yesterday. - StarBiz
MISC earnings soar: Energy shipping firm MISC Bhd’s earnings surged 158% year-on-year to RM745.19mil in the second quarter. The company said revenue for the quarter stood at RM2.6bil, 2.4% higher than RM2.54bil last year. Its share price reacted positively, rising 5.4% to RM8.20. - StarBiz
Business loan growth likely to slow: Business loan growth is expected to be slow for the remainder of 2015, while capital market activities are likely to stay flat due to continued market volatility, according to MIDF Research. It also expected Bank Negara to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3.25% this year. - StarBiz
Cautious outlook seen for insurance sector: Analysts expect single-digit expansion in the premium income of the life and non-life insurance sectors in Malaysia over the next few years. CIMB Research analysts urged investors to focus on insurance companies that have exposure to overseas markets and the takaful business, given the cautious outlook for growth in the conventional insurance sector. - StarBiz
China's CRCC to bag Gemas-JB double-tracking job: A Chinese consortium led by China Railway Construction Corp Ltd (CRCC) is understood to be in the last leg of negotiations to bag the RM8bil double-tracking railway line spanning Gemas to Johor Baru, which is the final stretch of the rail track. It is learnt that a local will partner the CRCC consortium, but this aspect of the deal is still being ironed out. - DigitalEdge
Hunza’s controlling shareholder revises offer price: Khor Teng Tong Holdings Sdn Bhd, which controls a 32.3% equity stake in Hunza Properties Bhd, has revised its offer price for the proposed privatisation of the Penang-based property firm to RM2.90 a share. - DigitalEdge
Challenging outlook although economic fundamentals intact: Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (Mier)'s statistics for the second quarter have painted a chal-enging picture of the Malaysian economy — consumers remain low-spirited, manufacturers lack confidence in business prospects and jobs are harder to come by. Other than a slight pickup in Mier’s second quarter residential property index, all the other indices used to track the performance of the domestic economy fell. Retail trade was lethargic, confidence in the tourism sector shrank, and consumer confidence is currently languishing in a “firm recession- ary mode”. - DigitalEdge
Reit sector still strong on Bursa: The real estate investment trust (Reit) sector is still going strong in the local stock market, despite the slumping ringgit and political uncertainties swamping the country, said Axis REIT Managers Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Stewart LaBrooy. And notwithstanding the weaker consumer sentiment in the first three months after the goods and services tax was introduced, LaBrooy said share prices of most Reits are still holding up “very well”. - DigitalEdge
Events calendar
Japan's July Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) released by Markit Economics (0135 GMT).
Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau releases the trade balance for July (1230 GMT).
The Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) released by Markit Economics for the United States for July (1345 GMT)a
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