Huge deal: Blackstone will get 84% of HP Enterprise Co's 60.5% stake in MphasiS.
MarketWrap: Wall Street retreated on Wednesday, pulled lower by weakness in the materials and healthcare sectors as investors continued to weigh the possibility of an interest rate hike in the coming months. - Reuters
The DJIA fell 65.82 points, or 0.35%, to 18,481.48, the S&P 500 lost 11.46 points, or 0.52%, to 2,175.44 and the Nasdaq dropped 42.38 points, or 0.81%, to 5,217.70.
Forex summary
*The ringgit gained 0.15% to 4.0330 per US$
*It was 0.22% higher at 4.5454 per euro
*Down 0.26% to 5.3465 to the pound sterling
*Up 0.11% to 2.9792 per Singapore dollar
*0.07% higher to 3.0750 per Aussie
*Up 0.12% to 4.0159 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, with US crude settling about 3% lower, after an unexpectedly large inventory build in the world's biggest oil consumer renewed worries about oversupply.
The US Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose 2.5 million barrels last week, versus analysts' forecasts for a draw of 500,000 barrels. Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 91 cents, or 1.8%, to close at US$49.05. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Singapore wants to boost its fintech start-ups: Singapore is reviewing the rules for venture capital (VC) firms as it attempts to draw more capital to the country’s financial technology (fintech) start- ups, says aid Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. - Bloomberg
Ex-Comverse CEO pleads guilty to fraud, a decade after fleeing to Africa: The former chief executive officer of Comverse Technology Inc, Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, pleaded guilty to securities fraud on Wednesday and was ordered detained a decade after fleeing the United States for Namibia to avoid prosecution. - Reuters
HP Inc beats estimates, weak printer demand weighs on forecast: HP Inc, the hardware business of the former Hewlett-Packard Co, reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit as demand recovered for its notebooks. However, HP forecast current-quarter profit below analysts' estimates, reflecting weak sales of its printers as companies cut costs across industries. - Reuters
SEC fines Wilbur Ross firm US$2.3m over fees: Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross' investment firm WL Ross & Co agreed on Wednesday to pay a US$2.3 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it did not properly disclose some fees it charged investors. - Reuters
Orange denies media report on deal with Vivendi on Telecom Italia: French telecoms operator Orange denied on Wednesday having reached a deal with Vivendi that would include taking stakes in the media giant's pay-TV Canal Plus and in Telecom Italia, following an online report by French magazine Challenges. - Reuters
Pfizer to buy antibiotics business from AstraZeneca: Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has agreed to sell its small molecule antibiotics business to Pfizer Inc in a deal that could be valued at more than US$1.5 billion. - Reuters
Top local stories
RHB denies its asset management arm sold down certain stocks: RHB Banking group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli denies its asset management arm sold down certain stocks last week and that there was an external investigation over alleged irregularities in its investment decisions. He confirmed chief investment officer Hoe Cheah How has left the unit.
* RHB Bank posts lower earnings of RM350.17mil for the second quarter due to a one-off full impairment on a corporate bond in Singapore. Its revenue rose 1.2% to RM2.686bil while earnings per share were 8.9 sen compared with 8.1 sen a year earlier. It declared a dividend of five sen. - StarBiz
Construction division to drive IJM: IJM Corp Bhd
is confident it will be able to maintain its financial performance moving forward, driven by its construction and industry divisions. IJM Corp CEO and managing director Datuk Soam Heng Choon is confident the group would be able to achieve its order book replenishment target of RM2bil to RM2.5bil. - StarBiz
CIMB ties up with Chinese bank: CIMB Bank Bhd has entered into an agreement with China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) to facilitate cross-border investments in both countries. CCB will be CIMB’s sub-custodian bank in China while CIMB will act as the same for the Chinese bank in Malaysia. - StarBiz
George Kent wins RM1b work package for MRT2: George Kent (M) Bhd got another leg-up in the rail transportation sector, with a RM1.01bil work package awarded to its joint venture with China Communications Construction Co Ltd. The joint venture won the work package for trackworks, maintenance vehicles and work trains for the entire 52.2km Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya mass rapid transit (MRT) alignment, also known as MRT2. - StarBiz
MyHSR to name reference design consultants for rail project: MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd says it will appoint reference design consultants (RDCs) for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project. There will be five RDC work packages. - StarBiz
M3Tech raises RM39mil via rights issue: M3 Technologies (Asia) Bhd (M3Tech) has raised RM38.9mil via a rights issue to ramp up commercialisation of new products and services in an effort to boost revenue. - Bernama
Boustead gains from sale of assets: Boustead Holdings Bhd’s pre-tax profit jumped to RM322.5mil for the second quarter from RM83.3mil a year earlier, owing to the disposal of assets in its property and plantations segments. Revenue declined to RM2.07bil from RM2.21bil previously. - StarBiz
Protasco unit gets road maintenance job: Protasco Bhd subsidiary HCM Engineering Sdn Bhd has entered into an agreement with Kijang Kuari Sdn Bhd to jointly undertake maintenance work for roads in Kelantan. - Bernama
UOA earnings soar in Q2: UOA Development Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter jumped 80% to RM124.23mil mainly due to the contribution from its Desa Green serviced apartments that were completed during the quarter. Revenue dipped to RM294.81mil from RM325.71mil a year earlier. - StarBiz
WCT delays private share placement: WCT Bhd has opted to delay its private share placement and will instead dispose of key property assets in a bid to pare down its debts. AmResearch said WCT hopes to raise about RM500mil from the disposal of The Ascent, as well as an adjacent serviced apartment block and a commercial building in Pandan Indah. - StarBiz
July inflation up 1.1%, lower than expected: Malaysia’s annual inflation in July eased to 1.1% and to its slowest in 16 months, due mainly to base effects from fuel price adjustments last year and slower food inflation. - StarBiz
Perisai in talks with S$125m bond holders on repayment: Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd, which posted its third consecutive quarterly loss in the second quarter amid depressed oil prices, said it had started discussions with the holders of its S$125 million (RM373.28 million) medium-term notes maturing on Oct 3. Edge FD
Parkson’s 4Q loss widens on declining sales in China: Subdued consumer sentiment and growing competition in China pushed Parkson Holdings Bhd deeper into the red in the fourth quarter. Its net loss widened to RM95.8 million on a 2.8% higher revenue of RM884.09 million. - Edge FD
YFG shareholder wants to remove entire board: YFG Bhd’s single largest shareholder, General Technology Sdn Bhd, has issued a notice to the company to convene an EGM to seek shareholders’ approval for the removal of the entire board because “they are not doing enough and with appropriate urgency to prevent the delisting of the group”. - Edge FD
SC approves Reach Energy’s proposed QA acquisition: The Securities Commission (SC) has ap- proved Reach Energy Bhd’s proposed qualifying asset (QA) acquisition and share placement. - Edge FD
B10 biodiesel programme delayed to Q4: Malaysia will delay the implementation of a higher-biodiesel mandate to the fourth quarter, from its earlier plan of July, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said on Wednesday. He did not give any reason for the delay. - Agencies
Global Oriental more cautious about new launches: Global Oriental Bhd will be more cautious in launching new projects, said executive director Wee Beng Aun after the property developer’s AGM, as the group is expects the property market downturn to persist until at least 2018. - Edge FD
Company results announcements on Wednesday
* Maybank Q2
* Genting Q2
* Genting Malaysia Q2
* UEM Sunrise Q2
* FGV Q2
* Ta Ann Q2
* Jaya Tiasa Q4
* DRB-Hicom Q1
* Salcon Q2
* YTL Corp Q4
* MRCB Q2 and briefing
Economic Calendar
* US initial jobless claims at Aug 20 (consensus 265,000)
* Markit US services PMI (consensus 51.8 versus 51.4 previously)
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