Energy
Brent Crude was 0.79% to US$48.46 per barrel at 2.44pm.
Forex
Ringgit was up 1.30% to 4.2280 versus the US dollar at 3.09pm.
Top foreign stories
Twitter chief gives chunk of stock to workers: Twitter co-founder and chief Jack Dorsey on Thursday said he is giving a third of his shares to company employees. The move to pump up the supply of shares available to reward workers could be intended to boost moral in the aftermath of job cuts at the San Francisco-based Internet firm. - AFP
BoJ easing, demand-boosting steps needed to achieve price goal: Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso cast doubt on whether further monetary stimulus could help the Bank of Japan (BoJ) achieve its ambitious 2% inflation target, particularly as oil prices and demand stayed low. — Reuters
S. Korea Q3 GDP growth hits 5-year high on consumption: South Korea’s economic growth accelerated to its fastest in more than five years as a sharp recovery in domestic demand more than offset a drop in exports, but policymakers stopped short of saying the consumption recovery would be sustained. Gross domestic product grew by a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in July-September versus the second quarter, Bank of Korea (BoK) data showed, quadrupling from a 0.3% quarterly rise and the fastest since the second quarter of 2010. — Reuters
China Huarong raises US$2.3b in Hong Kong IPO: State-owned China Huarong Asset Management Co has raised HK$17.8 billion (US$2.3 billion) through an initial public offering in Hong Kong after pricing the deal near the bottom of a marketing range, IFR reported late on Thursday.
Singapore’s Keppel says may face Brazil corruption probe: Singapore oil rig builder Keppel Corporation Ltd said it may face an investigation into deals with Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and rig builder Sete Brasil. A Brazilian parliamentary commission of inquiry backed further investigations into 10 companies it identified as involved in transactions with Petrobras and Sete, including the Singaporean company’s Keppel FELS Brasil unit, Keppel said. — Reuters
Australia oil and gas deals heat up with billion dollar merger: Australian oil and gas producers Beach Energy and Drillsearch Energy Ltd agreed to a billion dollar merger on Friday, the day after Santos rejected a US$5 billion offer, signalling the industry’s fortunes may be bottoming. — Reuters
Lower bookings, billings for global semicond equipment makers: North America-based maker of semiconductor equipment reported slightly lower booking and billings in September, based on a three-month average versus August. The US-based Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers Industry reported late on Thursday US$1.60bil in orders worldwide in September 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.07. — StarBiz
Asia private equity funds hurt Morgan Stanley’s Q3 profit: A dramatic fall in the value of Morgan Stanley’s Asian private equity funds hit the bank’s quarterly earnings, highlighting the risks of such investing at a time when rivals are scaling back to avoid losses and higher regulatory costs. — Reuters
Top local stories
Bursa Q3 earnings down 3% as operating costs climb: Bursa Malaysia’s earnings for the third quarter fell 3% to RM51.46mil due to higher operating expenses. Its revenue was almost flat at RM128.83mil compared with RM128.96mil a year earlier. Earnings per share was 9.6 sen versus 10 sen before. — StarBiz
September inflation slower than expected at 2.6%: Malaysia’s inflation rose 2.6% in September 2015 from a year ago, which was slower than the 2.9% expected. The Statistics Department said on Friday the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for rose to 113.6 from 110.7 a year earlier. — StarBiz
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