Top foreign and local stories at 4pm

Energy

Brent crude was 0.66% lower to US$51.47 per barrel at 3.47pm.

Forex

Ringgit down 0.50% to 4.2195 versus the US dollar at 3.47pm

Top foreign stories

India’s Bharat Petroleum plans to spend US$6.8b on refinery expansion by 2022: India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd plans to spend US$6.75 billion through 2022 to raise refining capacity by 62% to meet rising fuel demand in the world’s fastest growing major economy, its head of refineries R. Ramachandran said. — Reuters

New Wells Fargo CEO faces immediate test: Newly installed Wells Fargo & Co CEO Tim Sloan will not have much time to prepare his pitch for Wall Street. He will present third-quarter results on Friday, less than 48 hours after replacing John Stumpf at the helm of the bank, as investors seek reassurance that Wells Fargo can rebuild its reputation and retain profits while overhauling the hard-charging sales culture at the heart of a scandal over unauthorised accounts. — Reuters

Gloomy China Sept trade data raise fears recovery may be faltering: China’s September exports fell 10% from a year earlier, far worse than expected, while imports unexpectedly shrank after picking up in August, suggesting signs of steadying in the world’s second-largest economy may be short-lived. — Reuters

Tesco pulls Unilever goods from website over price row: Tesco, Britain’s biggest grocery chain, has pulled dozens of Unilever brand products from its website after a disagreement over prices in the wake of a partly Brexit-driven slump in the British currency. — Reuters

Taiwan’s TSMC Q3 net profit climbs 28% to quarterly record: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC)’s third-quarter net profit jumped 28% to T$96.8 billion (US$3.08 billion), hitting a new quarterly record, as analysts said earnings were boosted by sales of chips and processors for Apple Inc’s new iPhone 7. — Reuters

Cathay Pacific shares plunge as it axes profit outlook: Shares in Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific plunged more than 5% on Thursday after it scrapped its profit outlook for the second half of the year, citing competition and overcapacity. The carrie said it no longer expected business to improve in the latter half of the year - a departure from its previous forecast. Net profit for the first six months of the year stood at HK$353 million (US$45.5 million). — AFP

Top local stories

BBCC inks joint-venture agreement: Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) inks an agreement with shareholders and Mitsui Fudosan Asia for a joint-venture company that will own and operate the estimated RM1.6 billion Retail Mall at BBCC. _ starBiz

Nexgram unit gets housing contract: A Nexgram subsidiary gets a contract from Suara Hati for joint venture to build 1,138 housing units under PR1MA Valley project at Gombak. — StarBiz

BHIC Aeroservices bags RM62.5m govt job to maintain 3 helicopters: Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) unit BHIC Aeroservices Sdn Bhd has secured a RM62.58mil government contract to provide maintenance and support services for three Dauphin AS365N3 helicopters owned by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. — StarBiz

Gadang clinches development rights to Kwasa Land’s R3-1: Gadang Holdings Bhd has been awarded the development rights for Plot R3-1 of the Kwasa Damansara township by master developer Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd. Kwasa Land said Gadang’s bid would give it a total financial return of RM165mil for both the land cost and profit sharing. — StarBiz

Steel sector must consolidate, says Ahmad Maslan: Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Ahmad Maslan has urged steel sector to consolidate to remain resilient and sustainable while industry players believe the worst is over. — StarBiz

Cagamas issues RM350m convential medium-term notes: Cagamas Bhd, the national mortgage corporation, is issuing RM350 million of two-year conventional medium-term notes. It said proceeds from the notes issue will be used to fund the purchase of housing loans from the financial system. — Bernama