MarketWrap: Financial and commodity-sector stocks led the S&P 500 higher in a low-volume session on Monday after consumer spending rose for a fourth straight month, pointing to a pick-up in US economic growth. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 107.59 points, or 0.58%, to 18,502.99, the S&P 500 gained 11.34 points, or 0.52%, to 2,180.38 and the Nasdaq added 13.41 points, or 0.26%, to 5,232.33. - Reuters
Forex summary
*The ringgit gained 0.15% to 4.0390 per US$
*It was 0.12% higher at 4.5170 per euro
*Up 0.09% to 5.2936 to the pound sterling
*Down 0.03% to 2.9718 per Singapore dollar
*0.12% lower to 3.0587 per Aussie
*Up 0.14% to 3.9631 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices settled down more than 1% on Monday, snapping two consecutive days of gains, on renewed concerns about an oil glut, a stronger dollar and expectations that Nigerian rebels will stop hampering that country's crude output. Brent crude settled down 66 cents, or 1.3%, at US$49.26 a barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Boeing keeps jetliner prices steady amid slowing sales: Boeing Co said on Monday it will refrain from increasing jetliner prices for the first time since 2009 as the industry grapples with a slowdown in new plane sales. "Boeing will continue to quote July 2015 base prices in 2016," a company spokesman said. - Reuters
Mondelez abandons pursuit of US chocolate maker Hershey: Mondelez International Inc, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolates, said it was no longer pursuing the acquisition of Hershey Co, two months after the US chocolate company turned down its US$23 billion cash-and-stock bid. - Reuters
EU to hand Apple Irish tax bill of 1b euros: The European Commission will rule against Ireland's tax dealings with Apple on Tuesday, two source familiar with the decision said, one of whom said Dublin would be told to recoup over 1 billion euros in back taxes. The EC accused Ireland in 2014 of dodging international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth tens of billions of dollars from tax collectors in return for maintaining jobs. Apple and Ireland rejected the accusation; both have said they will appeal any adverse ruling. - Reuters
Facebook CEO says group will not become a media company: Facebook Inc will not become a media company, its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday, telling students the firm would remain a technology platform. An increasing number of users are turning to social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, to find their news, but Zuckerberg said his firm had no ambitions to become a content provider. - Reuters
Top local stories
CIMB trims the fat: CIMB Group
Holdings Bhd, which embarked on a strategy to bring down cost and increase revenue and returns to shareholders last year, is inching closer towards achieving its targets. In the second quarter its cost- to-income ratio dropped to 53.6% from 57.4% in the previous corresponding period. “The drop in costs helped our performance in the second quarter and there was an improvement in Indonesia as well,” group chief executive Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said.
* The country’s second-biggest bank by asset size posts a 36.4% higher net profit of RM872.83mil for the second quarter, boosted by its consumer and wholesale banking operations.
* It declares a 40% dividend payout of eight sen per share for the first half of this year. - StarBiz
Khazanah: Malaysians borrowing too much: There is a concern that Malaysians are borrowing too much and not saving enough, said a report from Khazanah Research Institute. While household debt has been moderating since 2010 (2015: 7.3% year-on-year), the ratio of household debt to gross domestic product remains high, at 89.1% in 2015 against 87.4% in 2014, it said. - StarBiz
FGV to divest more non-core assets this year: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) plans to divest more non-core assets by the end of the year to monetise its long-standing investments and streamline core operations. “We are looking at two or three companies to divest. There are also some holdings that are not performing, we are considering those too,” said chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Arshad. - StarBiz
Mudajaya Q2 loss widens to RM76m: Mudajaya Group Bhd’s net loss widened to RM75.96mil in its second quarter from RM12.27mil a year earlier, while revenue increased to RM171.01mil from RM99.49mil previously. The company attributed the losses to the impairment of the Philippines’ wind farm investment and its share of losses in its Indian associate, R.K.M Powergen Private Ltd. - StarBiz
Nazir not affected by new Bank Negara ruling: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak’s position will not be affected by a recent Bank Negara regulation where chief executives of banks must wait for a five-year cooling period before being appointed as chairmen. CIMB chief executive Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said the ruling was not retrospective, and thus, Nazir’s position at the bank was not affected. - StarBiz
David Power is new CEO of KFH Malaysia: Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH Malaysia) has appointed David Power as its new chief executive officer. It also announced the appointment of Nor Azzam Abdul Jalil as new deputy CEO and chief consumer banking, and David Wee Kim Peng as chief operating officer. - StarBiz
AirAsia’s net profit soars to RM342m: AirAsia Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter soared 41% to RM342.12mil, boosted mainly by the increase in aircraft operating lease income and reduction in the average fuel price to US$59 per barrel in the second quarter of 2016 from US$78 a year earlier. Revenue iincreased to RM1.62bil from RM1.32bil a year earlier. - StarBiz
LBS earnings fall slightly to RM20m in Q2: LBS Bina Group Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter dipped slightly to RM20.15mil on a higher revenue of RM225.61mil versus RM223.02mil a year earlier. It declared a special tax-exempt dividend of six sen per share for FY16. - StarBiz
HLB expects loan growth to remain subdued: Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) expects its loan growth to remain subdued in line with industry trends at around 5% to 6% for the financial year ending June 30, 2017. It expects to maintain its return on equity at around 10%-11% for FY17.
* The sixth-largest banking group in Malaysia recorded 9.2% fall in net profit to RM558.54mil for its fourth quarter due to higher operating expenses, lower write-back of impairment losses from securities and a lower contribution from associated companies. Its revenue rose 3.7% to RM1.08bil. The group declared a final single-tier dividend of 26 sen per share, bringing the total for FY16 to 41 sen per share. - StarBiz
UMW slips into the red in second quarter: UMW Holdings Bhd swung to a loss attributable to equity holders of RM12.13mil in the second quarter, from a profit of RM68.44mil a year earlier, as profit from the automotive segment was halved and its oil and gas business registered losses. UMW’s group revenue fell 18.3% to RM2.85bil. - StarBiz
TSH earnings jump on JVs: TSH Resources Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter surged 95% to RM13.84mil, mainly due to higher profit contributions from joint-venture entities and its associate company. Revenue increased to RM212.47mil from RM206.16mil a year earlier. - StarBiz
IOI Properties plans third China mixed-use project: OI Properties Group Bhd will embark on its third property project in China, after winning the tender to acquire a 2.51ha parcel of leasehold land in Xiang An central business district in Xiamen, China, for 2.32 billion yuan (RM1.4 billion). - Edge FD
Barakah bags another contract from Petronas: Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd has clinched a RM39 million contract at Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) Refinery and Petrochemical In- tegrated Development project in Pengerang, Johor.
Company results announcements on Tuesday ( August 30)
* Telekom Q2
* Lafarge Q2
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