Assistance issue: A Google spokesperson would not say how frequently it has cooperated with the All Writs Act.
MarketWrap: Wall Street suffered its first loss in four sessions on Thursday after a mixed bag of quarterly reports and a warning by Verizon Communications that a strike by workers would likely impact its bottom line. - Reuters
DJIA declined 0.63% to end at 17,982.52 points, tthe S&P 500 lost 0.52% to 2,091.48 and the Nasdaq edged down 0.05% to 4,945.89.
Forex summary
*The ringgit falls 0.48% to 3.9040 per US$
*It declines 0.52% to 4.4101 per euro
*Down 0.62% to 5.5947 to the pound sterling
*0.31% lower to 2.8942 per Singapore dollar
*0.14% higher to 3.0307 per Aussie
*Down 0.51% to 3.5674 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices slipped on Thursday as producers hinted at more output, while US stocks had their first loss in four sessions after a mixed bag of earnings reports. Brent crude was down 2.8% to settle at US$44.53 a barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign news
Sands’ Adelson mulls Singapore mall sale after restriction ends: Gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson, whose Las Vegas Sands Corp owns Singapore’s landmark Marina Bay Sands, said he’s considering selling the casino resort’s retail assets after a government-imposed moratorium expires next year. - Bloomberg
US regulators propose to restrict Wall Street executive pay: A group of US regulators issued a proposal on Thursday to restrict incentive-based compensation at big financial companies and prevent executives from receiving outsized rewards for making overly risky gambles. - Reuters
Google's parent Alphabet misses Wall Street view: Google's parent Alphabet Inc announced its first-quarter consolidated revenue rose to US$20.26 billion from US$17.26 billion. That was slightly below the US$20.37 billion analyst consensus, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Earnings per share of US$7.50, excluding one-time items, missed the analyst target of US$7.97. - Reuters
Microsoft revenue, profit misses estimates: Microsoft Corp reported results that fell short of analysts' expectations, showing its high-profile cloud business cannot quite make up for weakness in its core PC market. Its revenue fell to US$20.53 billion from US$21.73 billion, while net income in the third quarter fell to US$3.76 billion, or 47 cents per share, from US$4.99 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier. The company blamed a higher-than-expected tax rate for part of the lower net income. - Reuters
Top local stories
Quek eyes stake in IWH: The master developer of Johor Baru’s waterfront properties – Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) – could see the emergence of tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan as a shareholder. Sources say parties linked to Quek are looking to acquire a 20% stake in Credence Resources Sdn Bhd, which owns a 60% of IWH. - StarBiz
IHH to buy two hospital groups in Bulgaria: Healthcare operator IHH Healthcare Bhd
’s indirect subsidiary has proposed to acquire Bulgarian Tokuda Group and merge it with Bulgaria’s City Clinic Group for a combined total of RM437mil. This will lead to the creation of the largest private healthcare provider in Bulgaria, IHH said. - StarBiz
KAF Investment’s offer becomes unconditional: KAF Investment Bank Bhd says its offer to buy a 76.74% stake in KAF- Seagroatt & Campbell Bhd for RM248.64mil or RM2.70 a share has become unconditional and the the latter will be taken private. - StarBiz
Maxis first-quarter earnings jump 26%: Maxis Bhd’s earnings rose 26.3% to RM518mil in the first quarter from RM410mil a year earlier. It declared a first interim dividend of five sen per share. - StarBiz
CIMB Thai profit up on net interest income: CIMB Thai Bank pcl, a 93.71% indirect subsidiary of the CIMB Group, saw its net profit for the first quarter surge by 150.6% year- on-year to 327.3 million baht (RM36.23mil), largely attributed to higher net interest income and contained expenses. - StarBiz
Bumi Armada seeks RM1.1bil from Woodside: Bumi Armada Bhd has filed a claim in the Australian court seeking US$283.51mil (RM1.1bil) from Woodside Energy Julimar Pty Ltd for the termination of a contract for the charter of the Armada Claire floating production, storage and off-loading unit. - StarBiz
Celcom allocating RM1.2b for capital expenditure: Mobile telecommunications provider, Celcom Axiata Bhd, is allocating at least RM1.2bil for capital expenditure this year to expand its 4G service areas. - StarBiz
Carlsberg still sees growth this year: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd says it will report at least some level of growth this year amid the difficult macro environment surrounding the industry. - StarBiz
Malakoff sets aside RM900mil for capex: Malakoff Corp Bhd has allocated RM900mil as capital expenditure (capex) for its expansion this year, of which RM700mil will go into the new 1,000-MW Tanjung Bin Energy (T4) power plant. - StarBiz
Survey: Business confidence in Malaysia improves: Business confidence in Malaysia picked up slightly in the first quarter of 2016, according to a survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants. - Bernama
Intel may cut workforce at Penang, Kulim plants: Chipmaker Intel is likely to reduce its workforce at its plants in Penang and Kulim following a recent decision to cut its worldwide headcount by 12,000 or 11% of its entire global workforce, which stands at about 107,000. - StarBiz
Media Prima set to lift revenue from non-ad segment: Media Prima Bhd is poised to increase its revenue from the non-advertising segment to 30% in three to five years. It currently gets up to 90% of its revenue from advertisements. - Bernama
JCorp profit jumps to RM1.7bil: Johor Corp (JCorp)'s net profit rose RM1.74bil for financial year 2015, compared with RM727mil a year earlier. Turnover came in at RM5.31bil, up 15.9% from RM4.58bil in 2014. - StarBiz
Aeon Credit’s Q4 net profit at RM68m: Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd recorded a net profit of RM68.13million or 45.08 sen per share, on revenue of RM258.29 million for the fourth quarter. - Edge FD
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Hibiscus claims compensation from RIH: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd has filed a statement of claim at Singapore’s high court against Rex International Holding Ltd (RIH) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rex International Investments Pte Ltd, for losses suffered from Lime Petroleum Plc’s interest. - Edge FD
AGMs/EGMs
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