Breakfast briefing: Friday, October 9

Market wrap: US stocks ended higher on Thursday with the S&P 500 closing at a seven-week high as investors saw further signs of dovishness in the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes which shed light on its decision to keep interest rates near zero. - Reuters

The DJIA rose 138.46 points, or 0.82%, to 17,050.75, the S&P 500 gained 17.6 points, or 0.88%, to 2,013.43 and the Nasdaq added 19.64 points, or 0.41%, to 4,810.79.

Forex summary

*The ringgit gained 1.78% to 4.1600 per US$

*It rose 2.03% to 4.6877 per euro

*Up 1.65% to 6.3851 to the pound sterling

*1.10% higher to 2.9659 per Singapore dollar

*0.58% higher to 3.0224 per Aussie

*Up 1.85% to 3.4660 per 100 yen

Energy

Oil prices climbed to their highest in three months on Thursday after a closely watched oil forecaster predicted prices would climb to US$75 over the next two years, adding to early gains notched after a rally in Chinese stocks worries about Syria. PIRA Energy Group, a closely watched forecaster that predicted the collapse in oil prices a year ago, said it sees crude prices at US$70 per barrel by the end of 2016 and US$75 a barrel in 2017. Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 closed up US$1.72 at US$53.05 a barrel. - Reuters

Top foreign stories

Apple Pay to expand to Starbucks, Chili's and KFC: Starbucks Corp coffee shops will begin accepting Apple Inc's mobile payment system in a pilot program starting this year, Apple vice-president Jennifer Bailey said on Thursday. KFC and Chili's restaurants also will begin accepting Apple Pay in 2016, she said at the Re/code technology conference in Half Moon Bay, California. - Reuters

Fed awaiting evidence global chill not knocking US off track: The US Federal Reserve thought the economy was close to warranting an interest rate hike in September but policymakers wanted firmer evidence a global economic slowdown was not knocking America off course. The minutes from the Sept 16-17 meeting released on Thursday pointed to a deeply cautious Fed even before subsequent economic data showed a sharp slowdown in hiring by US employers. - Reuters

No room for mistakes by central banks amid 'new mediocre': Central banks have little room for error in a low-growth world in which over-leveraged and commodity-dependent emerging economies and a slowing China are major risks, top international financiers told the International Monetary Fund's meeting. Despite US$7 trillion in quantitative easing from banks in industrial nations since the global financial crisis, the world is stuck in a "new mediocre" growth pattern, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday. - Reuters

Eurozone aims to cap Greek debt servicing at 15% of GDP: Eurozone governments, Greece's biggest creditors, agree that debt relief for Athens should be accomplished by capping its debt servicing costs at 15% of gross domestic annually, the chairman of the eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said on Thursday. But discussions on whether the relief should be granted up front, over time as some conditions are met, or as a mix of the two, would only start later this year, after Greece successfully passes the first assessment by the creditors of its bailout reforms, he said. - Reuters

AB InBev CEO appeals to SAB shareholders for second day: Anheuser-Busch InBev chief executive Carlos Brito repeated his appeal to SABMiller shareholders on Thursday, again urging them to push the brewer's board into more serious takeover discussions. The Brazilian boss of Belgium-based AB InBev expressed frustration at the board of its UK rival, continuing a strategy begun on Wednesday, which one analyst called going "hostile lite", referring to an acquirer putting its terms direct to a target's shareholders. - Reuters

Top local stories

1MDB cleared of Bank Negara probe: The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) has cleared 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) of any wrongdoing in relation to an investigation initiated by Bank Negara into its investments overseas. However, the investigations into 1MDB by the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission are still ongoing and the AGC is continuing with its efforts to assist these two agencies. - StarBiz

Astro upbeat on new on demand offering: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd expects its new on demand offering and additional video-on-demand content to bring in additional average revenue per user (arpu). - StarBiz

Symphony plans RM600mil project: Property developer Symphony Life Bhd has proposed to take on a mixed development on a 3.36-acre parcel of leasehold land, which was acquired for RM100mil. The gross development value of the project is RM600mil. - StarBiz

Puncak Niaga case management on Dec 2: Water specialist Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd said the High Court has fixed the further case management date for the suit with the state and federal government on Dec 2. This is pending the disposal of the application filed by the Selangor government for leave to appeal to the Federal Court. - StarBiz

Malaysian families among Asia’s 50 richest business dynasties: Two Malaysian families – the Kwek/Quek family (Hong Leong Group) and the Lim family (Genting Group) – made it to Forbes Asia’s inaugural list of the 50 richest families in Asia. The Kwek/Quek family is in sixth place, with an estimated net worth of US$18.9bil (RM79.6bil) and the Lim family is ranked 36th with US$4.2bil (RM17.7bil). - StarBiz

CLIQ to raise RM210mil for asset purchase: Special-purpose acquisition company CLIQ Energy Bhd has proposed a rights issue with free detachable warrants (warrants B) to raise at least RM210mil. This is mainly to address the potential cash shortfall in the company’s trust account to buy back shares from shareholders who choose to vote against a proposed acquisition announced earlier. - StarBiz

Daya unit wins RM88mil naval job: Daya Materials Bhd has been awarded a 17.7 million euro (RM88mil) contract to provide marine heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment and services for six navy vessels. Daya said its unit Daya OCI Sdn Bhd was awarded the contract by France-based Axima Concept Sa, a subsidiary of energy company Engie. The contract is effective from 2015 until 2021. - StarBiz

MyEG says fine unlikely to hurt earnings: MyEG, in a filing with the stock exchange on Thursday, said the RM307,200 fine for infringing the Competition Act 2010 was not expected to have significant financial impact, but couldn’t verify the operational shock at this point, pending remedial actions finalised with the Malaysia Competition Commission. - StarBiz

YTL Power unit selected for bidding: YTL Power International Bhd unit YTL Power Generation Sdn Bhd has been selected as a successful bidder for the supply of power from its existing facility in Paka, Terengganu under the short-term capacity bid called by the Energy Commission for a period of two years and 10 months from March 1, 2016. - Bernama

Wahid: TPPA will safeguard local interests: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar has lauded the International Trade and Industry Ministry for hammering out the final terms under the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). The agreement, agreed upon by 12 nations including Malaysia, promised to safeguard local interests, said Wahid. - StarBiz

Malaysia GDP to grow 5%, says Nomura: Nomura Research expects Malaysia’s economy to grow at a resilient 5% this year following the strong trade data. The research house also said it expected the current account surplus to be at a sizeable 3.3% of gross domestic product while Bank Negara is expected to maintain the overnight policy rate. - StarBiz

LPI earnings up 18% to RM76mil: Insurer LPI Capital Bhd's earnings for the third quarter rose 18.1% to RM75.84mil on better claims experience and lower commission expenses. Profit before tax surged 22.6% to RM94.87mil, while revenue rose 16% to RM349.51mil. Earnings per share were 22.85 sen compared with 19.39 sen before. - StarBiz

Some weakening signs, says Moody’s: CIMB Bank Bhd’s stand-alone creditworthiness is showing some signs of weakening, according to Moody’s Investors Service’s recent report on the bank entitled “Weaker Profitability, Rising Asset Risk Will Limit Internal Capital Generation”. However, it noted that CIMB Bank’s “A3” bank deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings, and the positive outlook for the ratings remain supported by a very high likelihood of systemic support for the bank if needed. - Edge FD

Strong Taiwan-Malaysia accord: Trade between Malaysia and Taiwan last year amounted to US$17.4 billion, thanks to the strengthened bilateral relations between the two economies, which include trade cooperation and sustainable investment opportunities. - Edge FD