Fitch says the Employees Provident Fund will provide funding in the event of a sell-off by non-residents.
MarketWrap: Energy shares dragged Wall Street slightly lower on Monday, tracking a decline in oil prices, while earnings and guidance from companies including Perrigo and Xerox also weighed on US stocks. - Reuters
DJIA fell 26.51 points, or 0.15%, to 17,977.24, the S&P 500 lost 3.79 points, or 0.18%, to 2,087.79 and the Nasdaq dropped 10.44 points, or 0.21%, to 4,895.79.
Forex summary
*The ringgit was down 0.03% to 3.9085 per US$
*It fell 0.13% to 4.4042 per euro
*Down 0.37% to 5.6624 to the pound sterling
*0.10% lower to 2.8905 per Singapore dollar
*0.04% lower to 3.0150 per Aussie
*Down 0.09% to 3.5170 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices fell more than 2% on Monday as data pointed to fresh US crude builds, while leading banks in commodities said the two-month long oil market rebound has defied fundamentals. Brent LCOc1 closed down 63 cents, or 1.4%, at US$44.48. It hit a mid-November high of US$46.18 last week. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
EU regulators to block Telefonica's sale of O2 UK to Hutchison: EU competition regulators will veto CK Hutchison Holdings' 10.3-billion-pound (US$14.9 billion) deal to buy O2 UK from Spanish group Telefonica to become Britain's biggest mobile network operator, sources said on Monday. - Reuters
SWIFT network says aware of multiple cyber fraud incidents: SWIFT, the global financial network that banks use to transfer billions of dollars every day, warned its customers on Monday that it was aware of "a number of recent cyber incidents" where attackers had sent fraudulent messages over its system. - Reuters
US approves Charter’s Time Warner Cable buy: The US Justice Department on Monday gave antitrust approval to Charter Communications Inc's proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc and Bright House networks, which would create the second-largest US broadband provider and third-largest video provider. - Reuters
Xerox's revenue falls on lower printer sales: Xerox Corp reported a 4.2% fall in quarterly revenue, hurt by lower sales of printers and copiers, and said it expects to incur about US$100 million in restructuring costs in the second quarter. - Reuters
Top local stories
Airport city in the making: Airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd
(MAHB) has mapped out big plans to develop 1,000 acres of land near its airports. The KL International Airport (KLIA) Aeropolis - to be developed through three major clusters of air cargo and logistics, business and aviation parks and meetings, incentives, conferences and events and leisure - will the potential of generating RM7bil in investments over five years. - StarBiz
Malaysia gets shot in the arm from inflows: The resurgence in asset pur- chases has driven up Malaysia’s external reserves and supported the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index’s (FBM KLCI) rally over the past two months, although the value of inflows is starting to recede, analysts say. - StarBiz
Pahang Crown Prince wants to privatise Tanah Makmur: Plantation firm Tanah Makmur Bhd’s major shareholder, Pahang Crown Prince Tengku Abdullah Al-Haj Sultan Ahmad Shah, has proposed to privatise the company by way of a selective capital reduction and repayment exercise. - StarBiz
EPF to take up 80% stake in ??Bukit Jalil project: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has proposed to take up a 80% stake for RM421 million in one of the three parcels of land that Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) will receive from the Government when it completes the refurbishment and upgrading facilities at the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil. - StarBiz
Setia Eco Templer set for launch next month: Setia Eco Templer, S P Setia Bhd’s upcoming 194-acre township, is on track for its launch in two weeks after the company inked an agreement with AmBank (M) Bhd for banking facilities worth RM315mil for the development of the township. - StarBiz
Some expects higher palm oil yields: Sime Darby Bhd expects a 15% increase in yield from its existing oil palm plantations following a breakthrough in research and development. The group, which kicked off the first commercial planting of its new high-yielding oil palm genome on Monday said the move would bring “significant increases” to its bottom line by financial year 2021. - StarBiz
BAT calls on Govt to stub out duty hike: Malaysia’s biggest cigarette maker, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT), is hoping that the Government will freeze any further excise duty hike this year to help stabilise the tobacco industry. - StarBiz
Analysts: No major impact to MISC financials from acquisition: Shipping company MISC Bhd’s balance sheet is unlikely to be significantly impacted by the acquisition of the remaining stake in Paramount Tankers Corp, say analysts.
Hektar REIT posts Q1 net profit of RM10.7m: Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (Hektar REIT) posted a slightly lower net profit of RM10.7mil in the first quarter compared with RM11.1mil a year ago due to higher interest expenses. Revenue was slightly higher at RM31.6mil against RM31.2mil previously. - StarBiz
Bursa Q1 earnings up 6%: Bursa Malaysia posted a net profit of RM49.94mil in the first quarter ended, up 6.1% from a year ago, on the back of higher operating revenue. Revenue was 5.4% higher to RM133.93mil from RM127.09mil in the previous year. - StarBiz
Ismee resigns from Lembaga Tabung Haji: Tan Sri Ismee Ismail is stepping down as Lembaga Tabung Haji’s group managing director nd chief executive officer, according to sources. He is said to be joining a government-linked company, which is likely to be Sime Darby Bhd, as the No 2. - Edge FD
Dutch Lady Q1 profit almost doubles to RM34m: Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd’s net profit almost doubled to RM33.89 million for the first quarter, compared with RM17.03 million last year, driven by higher revenue and favourable dairy raw material prices. Quarterly revenue grew nearly 27% to RM249.79 million with improvement in all its product categories. - Edge FD
Parkson unit launches learning centre: Parkson Holdings Bhd’s 68%-owned subsidiary Parkson Retail Asia Ltd is venturing into the education business. The Singapore-listed unit launched its first learning centre with its joint-venture partner Studio Kingdoms Network Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. - Edge FD
AGMs/EGMs
Tower Real Estate Investment Trust
Time: 10am
Venue: Theatrette, Level 1, Wisma Hong Leong, Jalan Perak, Kuala Lumpur
IGB Real Estate Investment Fund
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Bintang Ballroom, Level 5, Cititel Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur
Country View Bhd
Time: 10am
Venue: Meeting Room 1, Level 11, DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru, Jalan Ngee Heng, Johor Baru
Cepatwawasan Group Bhd
Time: 11am
Venue: Amadeus IV, Level 2, Sabah Hotel Sandakan, Jalan Utara, Sandakan, Sabah
Petronas Gas Bhd
Time: 10.30am
Venue: Sapphire Room, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Kuala Lumpur
* Points to be raised by MSWG: What are the tangible improvements in health, safety and environment and the results of 3ZERO100 PGB Transformation Programme?
Westports Holdings Bhd
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Ballroom 1, Sime Darby Convention Centre, Jalan Bukit Kiara 1, Kuala Lumpur
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