Market wrap: Advances in top tech and biotech names helped US stocks to end with slight gains on Monday, while caution at the start of a heavy week of earnings kept a lid on the market. The Dow and S&P 500 pared losses late in the session while the Nasdaq added to gains. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 14.57 points, or 0.08%, to 17,230.54, the S&P 500 gained 0.55 points, or 0.03%, to 2,033.66 and the Nasdaq added 18.78 points, or 0.38%, to 4,905.47.
Forex summary
*The ringgit falls 1.37% to 4.2660 per US$
*It declines 1.09% to 4.8329 per euro
*Down 1.52% to 6.6039 to the pound sterling
*0.93% lower to 3.0701 per Singapore dollar
*0.85% down to 3.0937 per Aussie
*Down 1.13% to 3.5614 per 100 yen
Energy
Crude oil fell about 4% on Monday after a tumble in gasoline futures added pressure to a market slumping on slower growth in China and signs that Iranian oil will return to the market soon following implementation of its nuclear deal. The front-month in Brent settled down US$1.85, or 3.7%, at US$48.61 a barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
IBM revenue falls more than expected, cuts profit forecast: International Business Machines Corp posted a bigger-than-expected drop in revenue and cut its full-year profit forecast, as a stronger US dollar accentuated weakness in demand from China and emerging markets. It was the 14th quarter in a row that IBM has posted a reduction in revenue. - Reuters
Fed's Williams sees rate rises appropriate in 'near future': Despite strong headwinds from overseas that are holding down US.inflation, the Federal Reserve should soon begin to raise interest rates to slow down economic growth before it becomes unsustainable, a top Fed official said on Monday. "I do see the time to start raising rates in the near future, from my perspective," San Francisco Fed President John Williams said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. - Reuters
Morgan Stanley's trading rout sets grim tone for fourth quarter: Morgan Stanley on Monday warned that there was little hope for a quick turnaround in its key trading business given the persistence of global growth concerns that helped pummel the bank's third quarter earnings. Chief executive James Gorman was put on the defensive after a 42% slide in bond trading, one of its worst performances since the financial crisis, and a drop in its private-equity business sent net income skidding. - Reuters
Top local stories
Set-off deal in TRX: WCT Holdings Bhd
, which has been awarded an RM755mil contract to undertake infrastructure works on the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) development in Kuala Lumpur, has proposed to buy 1.65 acres in TRX via WCT Precious Development Sdn Bhd from 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd for RM223mil or RM3,100 psf. WCT also said WCT Bhd has accepted a letter of award worth RM754.83mil from 1MDB Real Estate for the proposed construction of infrastructure and roadway works at TRX. - StarBiz
MMC buys NCB stake from PNB for RM1.1bil: MMC Corp Bhd has acquired Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) majority stake in NCB Holdings Bhd for RM1.1bil cash, or RM4.40 a share, raising its stake in the port operator to 83.55% and triggering a mandatory gen- eral offer to buy out the remaining minority shareholders. MMC told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that it does not intend to maintain NCB’s listed status. - StarBiz
Need for autonomous Bank Negara: In an unprecedented development, the Malaysian Economic Association (MEA), a leading institution for economists, has come out strongly on the need for Bank Negara to remain autonomous and independent. The association said it was concerned that lately, questions were being raised about the independence of Bank Negara and its governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz. - StarBiz
Call for measures to support the ringgit: The annual tabling of the Supply Bill or proposed Federal Government budget is usually not the platform for announcing measures to boost the Malaysian currency market. However, the ringgit’s performance in the face of domestic and external issues necessitates the implementation of market measures in tandem with longer-term policies under Budget 2016. - StarBiz
Analysts: Edra’s highest price at RM12bil: The highest price some analysts are willing to put on Edra Global Energy Bhd is RM12bil, which is about the asset’s worth in 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) books. The market’s valuation, however, excludes debts amounting to RM6bil that are tied to the assets. - StarBiz
Honda cars to cost more in January: Honda cars in Malaysia will be more expensive from next year as the significant decline in the value of the ringgit has led to higher cost of production. The price increase, effective from January, will likely be in the range of 2% to 3%, depending on the vehicle model, says Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd. - StarBiz
Guocoland to gain RM116m from land sale: Guocoland (M) Bhd said its associate Vintage Heights Sdn Bhd (VHSB) is disposing of a parcel of land in Sepang for RM474.99mil. On completion of the disposal, VHSB is expected to realise a net gain of about RM290mil, said Guocoland, adding that approximately RM116mil is expected to be attributable to Guocoland. - StarBiz
ValueCap to get first RM6bil by year-end: The three shareholders of ValueCap Sdn Bhd will pump in the first RM6bil into the fund by the end of the year. The first tranche of the RM20bil fund to boost the stock market will come equally from Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Retirement Fund Inc. - StarBiz
AMD to tap growing SATS market: AMD Inc’s manufacturing operations in Malaysia is well-positioned to tap the growing worldwide semiconductor assembly and test services (SATS) market, which is expected to hit US$34bil by 2019. - StarBiz
Yinson bags US$129m charter: Yinson Holdings Bhd’s indirect subsidiary Adoon Pte Ltd has clinched a US$129 million (RM543 million) charter from Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Ltd for its floating production, storage and offloading vessel for another three years until Oct 16, 2018. - Edge FD
KPJ Healthcare beats health tourism target for 2015: KPJ Healthcare Bhd said it has surpassed the RM90 million revenue target it set for its health tourism segment this year. The group collected RM78 mil- lion in revenue from health tourism in 2014, and had upped its target for 2015 on the back of rising popularity of Malaysia as a medical tourism destination. - Edge FD
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