Top foreign and local stories at 4pm

Energy

Brent crude was 1.19% lower to US$40.71 per barrel at 3.25pm.

Forex

Ringgit down 0.23% to 4.0625 versus the US dollar at 3.50pm.

Top foreign stories 

How China asked the Fed for its stock crash play book: Confronted with a plunge in its stock markets last year, China’s central bank swiftly reached out to the US Federal Reserve, asking it to share its play book for dealing with Wall Street’s “Black Monday” crash of 1987. — Reuters

GM’s China chief says Chinese car market to grow 3%-5%: General Motors Co (GM) expects to see China’s car market to grow 3%-5% every year until 2020, its China chief Matt Tsien said on Monday. Tsien told reporters at a press conference in Beijing that SUV and luxury will be hot segments in China going forward, with SUV and MPV accounting for 40% of firm’s overall China growth. — Reuters

ASX chief quits on likely investigations into his Tabcorp role: Australian bourse operator ASX Ltd said its chief executive officer has quit to focus on unspecified potential investigations relating to his former role as head of gambling company Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. — Reuters

NZ central bank probes possible rate cut decision leak: The New Zealand central bank said it has launched an external investigation into allegations made by a blogger that its surprise rate cut decision on March 10 was leaked. — Reuters

Bohai Steel may be unable to make full repayment on US$30b debt: Bohai Steel Group Co Ltd, a steelmaker based in northeast China, may be unable to make full repayment on 192 billion yuan (US$29.61 billion) of debt, the online financial magazine Caixin reported. — Reuters

Virgin Australia US$320m loan facility seen cutting reliance on bonds: Richard Branson-backed airline Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said it tapped its top shareholders for a A$425 million (US$320 million) loan facility, a step that is expected to help it cut its reliance on the bond market for funds. — Reuters

Brexit could cost British economy US$145b: study: Leaving the European Union could cause a “serious shock” to Britain’s economy, with the risk of losing almost one million jobs, according to a CBI business group study released on Sunday. — AFP

Top local stories

China Railway Group to invest US$2bil in Bandar Malaysia: China Railway Group Ltd announced it will invest US$2bil to build its own regional centre in Bandar Malaysia. This comes three months after it won the bid with joint-venture partner Iskandar Waterfront Holdings to acquire 60% equity in Bandar Malaysia for RM7.41bil from 1MDB Real Estate. — StarBiz

Kerjaya Prospek awarded RM181mil dredging project: Construction firm Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd, formerly known as Fututech Bhd, has been awarded a dredging contract worth RM181.31mil for the Seri Tanjung Pinang development in Penang. — StarBiz

Matrade plans 150 SMEs programmes this year: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) has planned 150 programmes to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) export their products this year, benefiting from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). — Bernama