Breakfast briefing: Tuesday, September 13

A European flag is flown in front of The Elizabeth Tower which houses the "Big Ben" bell in the Palace of Westminster, as thousands of protesters gather in Parliament Square as they take part in a March for Europe, through the centre of London on July 2, 2016, to protest against Britain's vote to leave the EU, which has plunged the government into political turmoil and left the country deeply polarised. Protesters from a variety of movements march from Park Lane to Parliament Square to show solidarity with those looking to create a more positive, inclusive kinder Britain in Europe. / AFP PHOTO

MarketWrap: US stocks racked up their strongest gain in two months on Monday after Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard stuck to her dovish stance on interest rates and urged caution about removing monetary stimulus too quickly. - Reuters

The DJIA rallied 1.32% to end at 18,325.07 points and the S&P 500 jumped 1.47% to 2,159.04. The Nasdaq surged 1.68% to 5,211.89.

Forex summary

*The ringgit gained 0.77% to 4.1005 per US$

*It was 0.91% higher at 4.6058 per euro

*Up 0.46% to 5.4641 to the pound sterling

*Up 0.47% to 3.0221 per Singapore dollar

*0.37% higher to 3.0961 per Aussie

*Up 0.49% to 4.0383 per 100 yen

Energy

Oil fell for a second trading day in a row on Monday, after speculators cut their bullish bets by the most in three months last week and U.S. crude drillers added more rigs for a tenth week running.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell 53 cents on the day to US$47.48 a barrel, by 0830 GMT. - Reuters

Top foreign stories

Linde, Praxair end US$60b merger talks: German industrial gases group Linde and US rival Praxair have ended talks to create a US$60-billion-plus market leader, they said on Monday, after failing to agree where to locate key activities and who would run the business. - Reuters

Brexit chills M&A activity despite some big deals, data show: Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union chilled deal making activity involving British companies to the lowest level in at least two decades as bosses grapple with what Brexit will cost, Thomson Reuters data show. - Reuters

Japan's Renesas Electronics to buy US chipmaker Intersil for US$3.2b: Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp said on Tuesday it will buy US chipmaker Intersil Corp for US$3.22 billion amid a wave of consolidation in the global semiconductor industry. - Reuters

Top local stories

MAS goes the extra mile: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS), which has gone back to the aviation market after a two-year restructuring, is seeing a recovery in its share of the travel business by between 3% and 4%. Chief executive officer and group managing director Peter Bellew  attributed the improvement in market share to an aggressive sales push, along with advertising campaigns. StarBiz

Lower log output a concern: Shrinking log production has hurt the bottomline of most Sarawak-based timber companies. Their production may be further curtailed going forward due to the there was little indication of an improvement in the second half of the year.there was little indication of an improvement in the second half of the year.requirement to comply with strict rules related to timber/ forest certification and sustainable forest management. - StarBiz

Economists: Weaker output points to challenging Q3: Weaker-than-expected factory output is signalling a challenging start to Malaysia’s third-quarter economic growth, economists says adding that there was little indication of an improvement in the second half of the year. - StarBiz

Johor Rehda targets more markets besides Singapore: The Johor chapter of the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) has plans to reach out to a wider market other than Singapore in promoting the state’s property projects, especially those in Iskandar Malaysia. - StarBiz

Vitrox expects double-digit revenue growth this year: Vitrox Corp Bhd expects to close the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 with a double-digit percentage growth in revenue and bottom line compared with 2015, which saw the company posting RM44mil in net profit on a turnover of RM160mil. - StarBiz

PNB faces potential project delay: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) is facing a setback in the ongoing construction of what would be the tallest building in South-East Asia, which raises the spectre of possible delay in completion, sources say. - Edge FD

Poh Huat upbeat about positive US housing data: The recent positive US housing data are good news for exports-oriented furniture manufacturer Poh Huat Resources Holdings Bhd, which derives at least 60% of its sales from the US market. - Edge FD