Top foreign and local stories at 4pm

Gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,240.38 an ounce as the dollar turned lower.

Energy

Brent crude was up 0.84% to US$49.31 per barrel 2.57pm.

Forex

Ringgit down 0.23% to 4.4300 per US dollar at 3.06pm.

Top foreign stories

Eurozone nations turn to hedge funds to meet borrowing needs: Eurozone governments are increasingly relying on hedge funds to help them meet their borrowing needs, which risks leaving them vulnerable to a debt market sell-off driven by a class of investors dubbed “fast money” for their speculative approach. - Reuters

Gold rises for second day on Asia physical buying, dollar drop: Gold prices climbed for a second day on Tuesday, buoyed by an easing US dollar and physical buying in Asia. Spot gold was up 0.3% at US$1,217.35 an ounce by 0628 GMT. The previous day, it advanced 0.4% to snap three sessions of losses. — Reuters

Top local stories

Setia EcoHill enlists MBO Cinemas: Setia Ecohill Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of property developer SP Setia Bhd, has signed up MBO Cinemas as its anchor first tenant in EcoHill Walk Mall. MBO Cinemas will take up 58,000 sq ft in the neighbourhood mall in Setia EcoHill, Semenyih. — StarBiz

Stronger Q4 earnings expected for Star Media Group: Analysts expect Star Media Group Bhd to post stronger fourth-quarter results as it is a seasonally stronger period, coupled with expected higher contribution from Singapore-listed subsidiary Cityneon Holdings Ltd. — StarBiz

Bank Negara’s international reserves at RM407.8b: Bank Negara’s international reserves stood at RM407.8bill (US$98.3bil) as at Nov 15, 2016 compared with RM405.5bil (equivalent to US$97.8bil) as at Oct 31, 2016. — StarBiz

HLB first-quarter earnings up 8% to RM542.6m: Hong Leong Bank Bhd’s net profit for its first quarter rose 8% to RM542.63mil from RM502.96mil in the previous corresponding period, mainly due to higher net income, higher share of profit from an associated company. Revenue stood at RM1.10bil from RM1.02bil a year earlier. — StarBiz