Spreading quickly: E-commerce is gaining ground in rural China with more farmers selling their products online.
MarketWrap: US stock prices fell on Tuesday on weaker-than-expected economic data, while expectations of a possible Federal Reserve interest rate increase lifted the dollar to near a two-month high against a basket of currencies. - Reuters
The DJIA fell 86.09 points, or 0.48%, to 17,787.13, the S&P 500 declined 2.11 points, or 0.1%, to 2,096.95 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 14.55 points, or 0.29%t, to 4,948.06.Monday.
Forex summary
*The ringgit gained 0.28% to 4.1170 per US$
*It rose 0.38% to 4.5797 per euro
*Up 1.12%% to 5.9624 to the pound sterling
*0.11% higher to 2.9886 per Singapore dollar
*0.43% lower to 3.0013 per Aussie
*pP 0.28% to 3.7185 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices fell early on Wednesday as production from the major Middle East exporters was expected to remain high or even increase just as concerns over the state of China's economy weighed on its fuel demand outlook. Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were trading at US$49.59 per barrel at 0041 GMT, down 30 cents, or 0.6%, from their last settlement. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
China May official manufacturing PMI unchanged: Activity in China's manufacturing sector expanded marginally in May, an official survey showed on Wednesday, slightly better than market expectations. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 50.1 in May, compared with the previous month's reading of 50.1 and just above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. - Reuters
Top Alibaba shareholder Softbank plans to sell US$7.9b in stock: Japanese telecommunications and internet firm Softbank Group Corp said on Tuesday it will sell at least US$7.9 billion of shares in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in order to raise funds to reduce its debt. - Reuters
Top local stories
Impairments taper off: Oil and gas (O&G) players say they have more or less made the required impairments that have come about due to weak crude oil prices. Large impairments seem to have come from the big boys of the O&G industry, while not many of the smaller players have set aside provisions for their assets. - StarBiz
MRCB to reduce debt: Construction and property outfit Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) will focus on lowering debt via an asset monetisation programme in the next one to two years. As of April this year, the company’s gearing had been reduced to 1.12 times from 1.73 times at the beginning of 2013.
DRB-Hicom posts RM790mil Q4 loss: DRB- Hicom Bhd recorded a net loss of RM790.76mil for the fourth quarter, versus a net profit of RM89.8mil a year ago, due to Proton’s lower vehicle sales, volatility in foreign exchange (forex) rates and weak consumer sentiment. Revenue dropped 17.98% to RM2.63bil. - StarBiz
Astro
records higher first-quarter profit: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter increased 20.12% to RM202.17mil on the back of lower depreciation of property, plant and equipment and finance cost. Its revenue jumped 2.46% to RM1.36bil mainly due to an increase in advertising and home-shopping. - StarBiz
Temasek converts bulk of SAM Eng loan stocks: Sam Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd’s largest shareholder, Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd, has converted the bulk of its loan stocks in the company, which raises the prospect of a decline in the dividend per share of SAM Engineering. - StarBiz
Star Media Group upgraded to ‘add’: The growth prospects for Star Media Group Bhd’s (Star) Singapore-listed subsidiary Cityneon Holdings Ltd and a new stream of recurring income from property rental that will start coming in from the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017, has prompted CIMB Research to turn positive on Star’s stock. It upgraded Star to “add” from “hold” previously with a higher sum-of-parts-based target price of RM2.61. - StarBiz
SapKen unit makes another major gas discovery: SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd subsidiary SapuraKencana Energy Sarawak Inc has made another significant gas discovery in its three-well 2015 drilling campaign within the Block SK408 production sharing contract area, offshore Malaysia. - StarBiz
AirAsia X group CEO upbeat about turnaround: Airasia X group chief executive officer Datuk Kamarudin Meranun is optimistic that the company’s turnaround will be sustained. “Things are going to look much better. We will face what has historically been a difficult second quarter and we have put up a very tight budget,” he said. - StarBiz
MCKIP gets RM1.58bil new investments: The Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) has secured investments worth RM1.58bil from China and Malaysia. The new investments brings the total drawn by MCKIP, located within the East Coast Economic Region Special Economic Zone, to RM15.08bil. - StarBiz
Bumi Armada Q1 earnings fall to RM23m: Bumi Armada Bhd’s earnings fell sharply to RM23.43mil in the first quarter from RM72.05mil a year ago, due to a non-cash impairment charge RM17.9mil.
Its revenue fell to RM430.77mil from RM572.15mil a year ago. - StarBiz
Digi to bank on startups in its digital ambition: Digi.com Bhd plans to become a digital services provider in five years, as part of a strategy to help develop the local startup eco-system. The company’s newly-appointed chief digital officer Praveen Rajan said startups could steer the path for Digi to innovate at a faster pace and lift new products off the ground in efforts to go digital. - StarBiz
UMWOG bags drilling rig provision contract from Petronas: UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd (UMWOG) unit UMW Offshore Drilling Sdn Bhd has received a conditional letter of award from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for the provision of a jack-up drilling rig for an undisclosed sum. - Edge FD
Scomi’s 4Q earnings slump 87.6% on higher losses in all segments: Scomi Group Bhd’s net profit slumped 87.6% to RM1.98 million in the fourth quarter on lower revenues and profits across all its business segments. Its revenue dropped 24% to RM331.69 million, from RM436.66 million a year ago. - Edge FD
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