Growing the business: Toshiba Corp plans to build a new semiconductor facility in Japan. — Reuters
MarketWrap: The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average indexes ended Wednesday's session with small gains as expectations for timing on a rate hike were largely unchanged after US Federal Reserve minutes and investors waited on earnings reports. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 15.54 points, or 0.09%, to 18,144.2, the S&P 500 gained 2.45 points, or 0.11%, to 2,139.18 and the Nasdaq dipped 7.77 points, or 0.15%, to 5,239.02.
Forex summary
*The ringgit gained 0.03% to 4.1972 per US$
*It was 0.21% higher at 4.6189 per euro
*Up 0.80% to 5.1061 per pound sterling
*Up 0.28% to 3.0292 per Singapore dollar
*0.84% higher to 3.1689 per Aussie
*Up 0.27% to 4.0181 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after Opec reported another monthly hike in output and extended losses in post-settlement trade as industry data suggested the first US crude inventory build in six weeks. Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 60 cents, or 1.1%, at US$51.81 a barrel. In post-settlement trade, it fell to as low as US$51.61. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Swissco to default on interest payment: Troubled oil and gas services company, Singapore-listed Swissco Holdings Ltd, announced it will default on its interest payment to noteholders of its S$100 million (RM3.02 million), 5.7% Singapore dollar-denominated bonds due 2018, on Sunday and will suspend trading with immediate effect. - Edge FD
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf quits: Wells Fargo & Co's veteran chairman and chief executive officer, John Stumpf, abruptly departed on Wednesday bowing to pressure over its sales tactics that has damaged the bank's reputation and put Wall Street under renewed scrutiny. Wells Fargo said Stumpf would be replaced by president and chief operating fficer Tim Sloan. The bank is splitting the role of chairman and CEO with Stephen Sanger, its lead director, becoming chairman. - Reuters
Fed policymakers closer to rate hike, but inflation doubts remain: minutes: Several voting Federal Reserve policymakers judged a rate hike would be warranted "relatively soon" if the US economy continued to strengthen but doubts on inflation remained, according to the minutes of the Fed's September policy meeting released on Wednesday. - Reuters
Pimco took part in Deutsche Bank bond offerings: Pacific Investment Management Co, which oversees more than US$1.5 trillion in assets under management, took part in Tuesday's US$1.5 billion Deutsche Bank AG bond offering as well as a US$3 billion bond deal on Friday, a source said on Wednesday. - Reuters
Foreign investors sue Toshiba over accounting scandal: Toshiba Corp said on Thursday a group of foreign institutional investors had filed a lawsuit against the Tokyo-based company demanding compensation over its accounting scandal. The company said 45 shareholders were seeking compensation of about 16.7 billion yen (US$162.29 million) over the inappropriate accounting. - Reuters
Snapchat picks Morgan Stanley, Goldman to lead IPO: US photo-sharing app Snapchat has chosen Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc as lead underwriters for an initial public offering that could come as early as March, a source said on Wednesday. Snapchat is vying for a US$25 billion valuation in the stock market. - Reuters
Top local stories
IOI chief calls for higher CPO windfall profit levy threshold: IOI Corp Bhd
chief executive officer Datuk Lee Yeow Chor, who is also the Malaysian Palm Oil Council chairman, has called on the Government to review the existing threshold price for the windfall profit levy on crude palm oil (CPO) to RM3,000 per tonne from RM2,500 currently. “At today’s production cost, the RM2,500 per tonne is not considered a price level that brings about a ‘windfall profit’ to plantation companies anymore,” he said. - StarBiz
AirAsia gets 6-month extension for private placement: Low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd has received another extension to the proposed private placement of new shares to the company’s major shareholders. The low- cost carrier said Bursa Malaysia has approved the application for an extension of time of six months to April 12 next year for the completion of the private placement of 559 million shares. - StarBiz
Hibiscus eyes stake in Sabah oilfield: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd is proposing to buy Shell’s 50% block of participating interests in a production sharing contract for an oilfield cluster in Sabah for US$25mil (RM104.73mil) . - StarBiz
N2N proposes to buy HK’s AFE Solutions for RM86mil: N2N Connect Bhd proposes to acquire Hong Kong-based financial data and trading solutions provider AFE Solutions Ltd for US$20.6mil (RM86.3mil) cash to expand the company’s regional presence. - StarBiz
Ringgit likely to trade in the RM4.15-RM4.30 range: The ringgit is expected to trade between RM4.15 and RM4.30 against the US dollar by year-end, says IQI Group Holdings chief economist/investment strategist Shan Saeed. He said if China continues to lower the yuan, the ringgit as well as rupiah, dong, baht, the Philippine peso and Singapore dollar may trade lower. - StarBiz
Shareholders okay Eco World private share placement: Eco World Development Group Bhd (Eco World) shareholders gave their go-ahead for the property developer’s proposed private placement at an EGM, paving the way for it to subscribe to Eco World International Bhd’s IPO. The proposed private placement is expected to raise about RM768 million. - StarBiz
Genting Hong Kong pumps more money into German shipyard: Genting Hong Kong Ltd will be investing an additional 160 million euros (RM462mil) in the company’s newly acquired German shipyard, MV Werften. The company, which has already invested 100 million euros in the shipyard, will use the latest investment to build large ships. - StarBiz
Power demand seen growing 2%-3% annually: Electricity demand in Malaysia is expected to grow between 2% and 3% a year in the next few years, supported by the continued implementation of the Government’s development policy initiatives, says RAM Rating Services Bhd. - StarBiz
Bank Rakyat approves RM21bil for financing products: Malaysia’s largest Islamic cooperative bank, Bank Rakyat, has approved RM21bil for its financing products – personal, home, auto and motorcycle, education, micro, and, credit card as at Sept 30, 2016. - Bernama
Crest Builder bags RM84m carpark contract: Crest Builder Holdings Bhd has clinched an RM84.27mil contract from Asianmax Corp Sdn Bhd to build multi-storey carparks in five public housing areas. - StarBiz
Softer Q$ results for Top Glove: Glovemaker Top Glove Corp Bhd posted revenue and net profit of RM722.1mil and RM65.8mil respectively for its fourth quarter. It attributed the softer results to increased competition in the second half of the financial year, which led to a downward revision of the average selling price. - StarBiz
AllianceDBS says gaming tax hike unlikely: There may not be any tax hikes for gaming players in Budget 2017. AllianceDBS Research said in a report the Genting group’s key role in stimulating the domestic economy and creating jobs through the multi-billion ringgit Genting Integrated Tourism Plan may be a reason for there not being a gaming tax hike. - StarBiz
Perisai triggers PN17 criteria: Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd triggered Practice Note (PN) 17 (PN17) criteria after its unit Perisai Capital (L) Inc defaulted on debt repayment on S$125mil (RM377.27mil) medium term notes which matured on Oct 3. Perisai told Bursa Malaysia it will formulated a regularisation plan to address the matter. - StarBiz
SC seeks feedback on revision in rules for trustees: The Securities Commission is seeking the public’s feedback on the proposed revision in the rules for trustees and custodians in the Malaysian capital market. The SC published a consultation paper for the industry where the 90 custodians and trustees are in charge of safekeeping RM1.7 trillion worth of assets on behalf of investors. - StarBiz
Customs department takes no action taken against Ann Joo: Ann Joo Resources Bhd said the Royal Malaysian Customs Department did not take any action against the group after conducting an audit. - Edge FD
Retail industry remains vibrant, says Pemandu: Despite the apparent weak consumer sentiment since the implementation of the goods and services tax in April last year, the Malaysian retail scene remains energetic with more global brands getting a foothold in the country, said the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu). - Edge FD
CIMB, Mastercard launch cross-border financial platform in Shanghai: CIMB Bank Bhd teamed up with Mastercard on Wednesday to launch the Cross-Border Commodities Financial Services Platform in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone to facilitate Malaysian traders using the trade zone. - Edge FD
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