El-Erian, the chief economic adviser to Allianz: "Think of sterling as facing a double whammy with no strong anchor."
MarketWatch: After finally eclipsing year-old record highs, the US stock market will be tested again this week, when the onslaught of company earnings could help investors assess the impact of Britain's vote to exit the European Union. - Reuters
Energy
Oil prices were either side of unchanged on Sunday in early trade as the impact from Turkey's failed military coup was broadly expected to be limited on global markets. The most-active Brent futures for September delivery rose 2 cents, or 0.04%, at US$47.63 per barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Draghi to ask governments to chip in to counter Brexit fallout: European Central Bank president Mario Draghi is likely to plead for governments to do more to boost the eurozone's economy as the fallout of Britain's vote to leave the EU and weaker global growth threaten the bloc's fragile recovery. - Reuters
ExxonMobil bids US$2.2b for InterOil, may spark bidding war: ExxonMobil Corp has made a bid worth at least US$2.2 billion for Papua New Guinea-focused InterOil Corp, winning the support of InterOil and topping an offer from Oil Search Ltd, Oil Search said on Monday. ExxonMobil's move pits it against French giant Total SA, which is backing Oil Search's offer with an agreement to buy part of InterOil's stake in the potentially lucrative Elk-Antelope gas field. - Reuters
Allianz on lookout for acquisitions in Europe: Allianz set aside 2.5 billion to 3 billion euros for acquisitions in the eurozone this year and will use the funds to buy back shares if no takeover targets are found, chief financial officer Dieter Wemmer told Boersen-Zeitung. Allianz would like to strengthen its footprint in Spain and France, Wemmer told the German paper in an interview. -Reuters
Top local stories
Aviation body seeks funding: The Malaysian Aviation Commission, set up in March, is exploring the possibility of charging up to RM1 per airline passenger to fund its operations, aviation executives said. Additional sources of income may include charging for licences. “At this stage it is still exploring (its options). Since it began it had been funded by the Government,’’ an airline executive said. - StarBiz
Wahid to be executive chairman of PNB?: Former minister and banker Tan Sri Wahid Omar is expected to be appointed executive chairman of national unit trust company Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), a move that could precede changes at the helm of the organisation. “Wahid’s entry is likely to see the departure of Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid and Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman from PNB,” a source said. - StarBiz
Gold jewellery exports expected to drop over 10%: The Penang Goldsmith Association (PGA) is projecting the value of Malaysia’s gold jewellery exports to drop by more than 10% this year from RM4.8bil in 2015. For the first four months of the year, the value of exported gold jewellery dropped by 12.4% to RM1.429bil. - StarBiz
New Grade A office rentals ’s domino effect: Rentals for brand new Grade A office buildings in the country are trending down, and this will exert pressure on other office building owners to do likewise in order to maintain occupancy, sources said. - StarBiz
MyTOWN confident of 85% occupancy rate: Boustead Ikano Sdn Bhd is confident the MyTOWN Shopping Centre in Cheras will achieve the targeted occupancy rate of 85% by the time the mall opens on Nov 15. “Our occupancy rate is already 70% plus, so we are quite confident of meeting our target,” said general manager Jo Hogsander. - StarBiz
Tek Seng counts on solar cell business: Tek Seng Holdings Bhd
’s solar cell business is to generate about 70% of the company’s revenue this year, given that the order book has been filled till the end of this year. - StarBiz
CIMB Group lowers base rate: CIMB Group said it will reduce its base rate by 20 basis points to 3.9% from 4.1% for its Malaysian loans/financing products. Its base lending rate and base financing rate will be cut to 6.75% from 6.95%, effective July 22. - StarBiz
Ireka plans six projects worth RM1.3b: Ireka Corp Bhd, which aborted its plan to build a RM203.14 million mall for Aeon Co (M) Bhd in Negri Sembilan on part of a freehold plot that it was acquiring to sell to Aeon, expects to roll out six property launches over the next 18 months, with total expected gross development value (GDV) of RM1.3 billion. - Edge FD
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
