New direction?: Amazon's rumoured move to open up more physical stores would further affect rivals like Barnes & Noble Inc.
Market wrap: Most US shares ended little changed to lower on Wednesday, erasing early gains on concerns about global growth and sliding commodity-related shares, while greater calm surrounding the European banking sector boosted that region's shares. - Reuters
The DJIA ended down 99.64 points, or 0.62%, at 15,914.74. The S&P 500 closed down 0.35 points, or 0.02%, at 1,851.86. The Nasdaq rose 14.83 points, or 0.35%, to 4,283.59.
Forex summary
*The ringgit rises 0.45% to 4.1030 per US$
*It falls 0.05% to4.6396 per euro
*Up 0.22% to 5.9693 to the pound sterling
*0.06% higher to 2.9566 per Singapore dollar
*0.03% lower to 2.9274 per Aussie
*Down 0.07% to 3.6398 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices seesawed in choppy trade on Wednesday, with US crude slipping and Brent paring gains as worries about a global supply glut offset data showing a surprise drop in US crude stockpiles. Oil prices rallied early, up for the first time in five days, on talk that major producers might try to tackle a glut that had driven prices to 12-year lows. Brent LCOc1 rose more than US$1 to US$31.90 a barrel, then pared gains to US$31.46. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Yellen: Fed unlikely to reverse course on rates despite risks: The Federal Reserve is unlikely to reverse its plan to raise interest rates further this year, but tighter credit markets, volatile financial markets, and uncertainty over Chinese economic growth have raised risks to the US economy, Fed chair Janet Yellen told US lawmakers on Wednesday. - Reuters
Yahoo announces first round of layoffs as it trims 15% of workforce: Yahoo Inc announced on Wednesday it will lay off 107 employees in the first of what is expected to be more than 1,500 job cuts. The layoffs, which take effect on April 11, were spread across a range of departments and job titles. - Reuters
Amazon to buy back US$5b of shares: Amazon.com Inc, the world's largest e-commerce company, said on Wednesday its board authorised a US$5 billion share buyback programme.
The buyback replaces the US$2 billion repurchase programme approved in 2010. The company had US$763 million remaining under the previous plan. - Reuters
Mylan to buy Swedish drugmaker Meda in US$7.2b deal: The Netherlands-based generic drugmaker Mylan NV said it would buy Meda AB in a US$7.2 billion cash-and-stock deal in its third attempt to buy the Swedish company. The move comes three months after Mylan ditched its seven-month long pursuit of smaller rival Perrigo. - Reuters
Cisco beats profit estimates, adds US$15b to buyback: Cisco Systems Inc reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher demand for its routers and security products, and added US$15b to its share buyback programme. Net income rose to US$3.1 billion, or 62 cents per share, from US$2.40 billion, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier. - Reuters
Top local stories
IJM, Sunway among 5 frontrunners for MRT 2 viaduct job: IJM Corp Bhd
and Sunway Construction Group Bhd are among five construction giants in the running for a RM2bil job to construct viaducts in the Mass Rapid Transit line 2 (MRT 2) project. The others shortlisted are Gadang Holdings Bhd, Mudajaya Group Bhd and Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd, sources say. Construction jobs from MRT 2 are expected to be awarded from next month a source said. - StarBiz
Additional foreign taxes seen making palm oil less competitive: A hurdle to the current rise in crude palm oil (CPO) prices is the potential imposition of additional taxes on palm oil by Russia and France this year. Analysts said this would deem palm oil to be less competitive compared with other edible oilseeds like soybean. Russia is mulling imposing an excise duty to about US$200 per tonne by July, while France is planning to introduce a progressive tax of about 197 euros (US$219) per tonne by March. - StarBiz
* Palm oil inventories in Malaysia fell to the lowest in six months in January as El Nino-wrought dry weather exacerbated seasonally low production in the world’s second-largest grower. Inventories fell 12% to 2.31 million tonnes in January, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed. - Bloomberg
PetGas, Sabah Energy abort terminal project in Sabah: Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) and Sabah Energy Corp Sdn Bhd have decided to scrap a deal to develop a regasification terminal in Lahad Datu, Sabah. The decision came as the price of fuel, including oil and natural gas, continues to fall amid the rising supply in the global markets. - StarBiz
YTL Corp’s dividend story sustainable, says CIMB Research: Despite higher capital expenditure (capex) over the next few years, YTL Corp Bhd should be able to sustain its divi- dend payout of at least RM1bil, which is an over 80% payout ratio, says CIMB Research. The research house said YTL’s management stressed that even with the additional capex for PT Tanjung Jati Power, the diversified group has stable cashflows from subsidiaries which can support a dividend yield of over 6%. - StarBiz
Passenger numbers at airports up 3.2%: Malaysian airports saw passenger numbers grow by 3.2% in January from a year earlier, but the overall number of aircraft movements fell 2.2%, says Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. The airports recorded a total of 6.8 million passenger movements in January, with 3.5 million passengers in the international sector and 3.3 million on domestic flights, an increase of 6% and 0.3% respectively. - StarBiz
A Bank Muamalat listing?: A potential listing of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd could be an option should its major shareholder DRB-Hicom Bhd fail to find a suitable suitor to buy up a stake in the bank. “The requirement to pare down its (DRB- Hicom’s) stake in Bank Mualamat is to comply with Bank Negara’s requirements from current 70% to 40%, which has been delayed for a few years," Public Invest said in a report. “If it could not find a suitable buyer, there is a possibility that Bank Muamalat will go for listing.” - StarBiz
Pakistan invite to Malaysian firms: Pakistan is inviting Malaysian businesses, including carmakers and construction companies, to set up shop in the country, but wants a review of the Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement so that both countries can enjoy the benefits of freer trade. - StarBiz
Lay Hong buys Songkhla asset from O&C Resources: Lay Hong Bhd said it is paying RM8.5mil to O&C Resources Bhd (OCR) for an asset in Songkhla, Thailand after taking into account various enhancement work done on the property, as well as advances made by OCR to the company. OCR acquired the land in October 2013 for RM2.547mil. - StarBiz
Kulim to pay less for O&G stake: With oil prices dropping below US$30 per barrel, Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd has revised down the price it is set to pay for a 60% stake in an Indonesian oil and gas player, PT Citra Sarana Energy. The company said it will now be paying US$80 million for the stake compared with the original purchase price of US$135 million as announced on Dec 10. - Edge FD
Careplus raises capacity to boost profit margins: ACE Market-listed glove maker Careplus Group Bhd plans to expand its production capacity to as much as 10 billion pieces of gloves annually by 2020, which it expects will be able to improve its profit margin from the current 3% to 12% and grow its global market share from 1% now to 4% in five years.
The glove maker’s current annual capacity is 2.4 billion pieces. - Edge FD
What will IJM do with its interest in Scomi?: Scomi Group Bhd may be attracting attention of late as the tenure of its three-year RM110 million convertible bonds issued to IJM Corp Bhd expired on Monday. Will IJM Corp exit the oil & gas outfit by redeeming debt papers and selling off the 7.66% stake that it owns in Scomi? With the sharp fall in Scomi’s share price since 2014, it is apparent that IJM Corp is unlikely to convert the bonds into equity. The conversion price is pegged at 36.5 sen per share, which is more than double last Friday’s closing of 15 sen. - Edge FD
Thong Guan to spin off F&B business in three years: Packaging group Thong Guan In-dustries Bhd plans to work with its Chinese partner, the COFCO group, to tap the organic noodles market in China, and eventually spin off its food and beverage (F&B) and other consumable product business, which is deemed to have a better margin, profit and valuation than its core packaging business, in three years. The group is also on the hunt for merger and acquisition opportunities to grow its packaging segment. - Edge FD
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