Breakfast briefing: Wednesday, April 6

Valued partner: MAS said it had entered into a codeshare partnership with Emirates, giving MAS passengers access to 90 locations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, served from Emirates

MarketWrap: Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday as investors took gains off the table following a recent rally and ahead of an upcoming quarterly reporting season that is expected to reveal sharply lower earnings. - Reuters

The DJIA dropped 0.75% to end at 17,603.32,  the S&P 500 lost 20.96 points to 2,045.17 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.98% to 4,843.93.

Forex summary

*The ringgit falls 0.59% to 3.9235 per US$

*It drps 0.15% to 4.4666 per euro

*Up 0.54% to 5.5545 to the pound sterling

*0.10% lower to 2.8951 per Singapore dollar

*0.25% higher to 2.9600 per Aussie

*Flat at 3.5547 per 100 yen

Energy

Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Kuwait insisted major producers will agree to freeze output later this month even as key player Iran continued to balk at the plan. Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 18 cents at US$37.87 a barrel, after sinking to a March 4 low of US$37.27 earlier. It got to a post-settlement high of US$38.44. - Reuters

Top foreign stories

Pfizer leaning toward abandoning deal with Allergan: Drugmaker Pfizer Inc is leaning toward abandoning its US$160 billion agreement to buy Allergan Plc in light of the US Treasury's new measures to curb such tax evading deals, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. - Reuters

Rising US inflation would take a bite out of the dollar: Currency market strategists are predicting greater weakness in the US dollar over the next few months, as the Federal Reserve seems to have closed the door on interest rate hikes through the spring and left the greenback alone with a destructive bedfellow: rising inflation. - Reuters

US Justice Dept will sue to stop Halliburton, Baker Hughes merger: The US Justice Department will file a lawsuit as soon as this week to stop oilfield services provider Halliburton Co from acquiring smaller rival Baker Hughes Inc, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The antitrust lawsuit could potentially scupper the deal that was first announced in November 2014 to combine the No. 2 and No. 3 oil services companies. - Reuters

Fed's Kashkari snags Bernanke in push on too-big-to-fail: Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari, who is pushing the government to consider breaking up the country's biggest banks, has booked former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to speak at his second conference. - Reuters

Top local stories

Sky-high DCA fees: Airlines operating out of Malaysia will be expected to pay up to 10 times more in fees charged by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) effective April 15. Fees are to be increased for everything from the usage of air space, air traffic facilities and other services to the air operator’s certificate and the pilot’s flight licence under a review of fees and charges made by the DCA after 40 years. - StarBiz

More upside seen for ringgit: The ringgit could continue to strengthen against the US dollar this month despite the two-day correction seen since Monday. Valuation wise, the ringgit has a leeway to strengthen and, based on historical data, it has a good chance to continue strengthening this month, says an AmBank Group report. - StarBiz

Maybank and RB Capital ink landmark RM751mil Islamic financing deal: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Singapore-based RB Capital inked a S$260mil (RM751mil) Islamic financing deal, one of the biggest Islamic deals in Singapore. - Bernama

KAFS seeks RM456mil from MAHB: Petronas Dagangan Bhd subsidiary Kuala Lumpur Aviation Fuelling System Sdn Bhd (KAFS), whose 50-year concession period to operate the aviation fuelling system at the KL International Airport has been halved, is seeking claims estimated at RM456mil from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB). - StarBiz

Karex plans more acquisitions this year: Condom maker Karex Bhd is planning to make more acquisitions this year and is venturing into the online business via its newly acquired TheyFit LLC, a custom fit condom manufacturer. - StarBiz

Mudajaya unit buying big stake in Indonesian IPP: A unit of Mudajaya Group Bhd has proposed to acquire a majority stake in an Indonesian independent power producer (IPP) for a yet-to-be determined price. The contruction group said its indirect 95%-owned subsidiary, PT Mudajaya Energi Indonesia, had entered into a conditional agreement with PT Indomuda Satria Internusa and PT Harmoni Energi Indonesia Manokwari (PT HEIM) to acquire a 73.69% equity interest in PT HEIM. - StarBiz

Pavilion REIT sees up to 10% revenue growth: Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (Pavilion REIT) is expecting 8% to 10% of gross revenue growth with the recent acquisitions of Da:men Mall and Intermark Mall. - StarBiz

Emirates, Malaysia Airlines add 15 destinations: Emirates and Malaysia Airlines added 15 destinations in Malaysia under their codeshare agreement while enhancing their frequent flyer benefits. Emirates said the routes were Langkawi, Penang, Alor Setar, Kota Baru, Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu, Johor Baru, Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and Labuan. - StarBiz

MARC affirms TNB issuer rating: Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has affirmed Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) issuer rating of AAA and Islamic debt rating of AAAID on its outstanding RM2bil Al-Bai’ Bithaman Ajil bonds. The ratings agency said the rating outlook for the power giant was “stable”. - StarBiz

Petronas in Visa debit card tie-up with Bank Islam: Petroliam nasional Bhd (Petronas) has teamed up with Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd to allow holders of the bank’s visa Debit Card-i card to withdraw cash at Petronas station counters. Petronas and Bank Islam said the first phase of this joint initiative covered all 150 Petronas stations in three states, namely Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. - StarBiz

Salutica gets nod for listing: Salutica Bhd, a one-stop solutions provider for the manufacture of consumer electronic products in Malaysia, has received Bursa Malaysia’s approval for a listing on the Ace Market. - StarBiz

RAM: Credit health of local firms to hold up: The credit health of Malaysian corporations and financial institutions will continue to hold up in 2016, despite prevailing domestic and global head- winds, said RAM Rating Services Bhd (RAM Ratings). It said some of the volatilities including low commodity prices, currency depreciation and foreign fund flows had abated, lending stability to and injecting much-needed confidence into capital markets. - Edge FD

Steve Chen is Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia’s new CEO: Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp (Malaysia) Bhd (Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia) has received approval from Bank Negara for the appointment of Steve Chen Thien Yin as its new chief executive officer. Chen replaces Datuk Azrulnizam Abdul Aziz, who resigned from the bank in October 2014. - Edge FD

AGMs/EGMs

Abric Bhd

Time: 10am

Venue: Dewan Tan Sri Hamzah, Royal Selangor Club, Kiara Sports Annex, Jalan Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Signature International Bhd

Time: 10am

Venue: Greens 3, Sports Wing, Jalan Kelab Tropicana, Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Signature seeks shreholder nod for:

* Share split of 50 sen par value shares into two shares of 25 sen each on an entitlement date to be announced later.

* One-for-four bonus issue of up to 60 million warrants

* Establishment of an employees' share option scheme of up 10% of the company's share capital.

LB Aluminium Bhd

Time: 10am

Venue: Ujong Pandang Room, Staffield Country Resort, Mantin, Negri Sembilan