No lay-offs after Malaysia Hengyuan buys 51% of Shell Refining
Energy
Brent crude was down 0.65% to US$50.47 per barrel at 3.41pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.30% to 4.4128 versus the US dollar at 3.47pm.
Top foreign stories
Goldman says Opec should be wary of extending production cuts: Goldman Sachs said an extension of the joint Opec and non-Opec oil production cut is not warranted unless supply and demand fundamentals deteriorate. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other major producers should be wary of extending the cuts unless there is a weakening of global oil demand or output from Libya or Nigeria increases, the bank said in a note. - Reuters
London mansion owners turn to Airbnb as buyers snub: Luxury-home owners in London are turning to companies such as Airbnb Inc and brokers like Xenyos to secure income as their properties languish on the market. Others are trying to boost leasing income with shorter contracts after long-term rents in the most expensive districts fell 5.1 percent in the year through February. — Bloomberg
Shell and Anadarko mull clean break from Permian venture: Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp may let a 10-year joint venture in the oil-rich Permian Basin of Texas expire and split their properties, hoping to speed up development, according to a senior Shell executive. — Reuters
China Jan-Feb industrial profits surge 32% as commodity prices rally: Profits of Chinese industrial firms surged 31.5% in the first two months of 2017 from a year earlier as prices of commodities from coal to iron ore raced higher, while strong imports also pointed to a pick-up in activity. — Reuters
Top local stories
Public Bank to beef up non-interest income: Amid shrinking industry’s net interest margins, Public Bank Bhd said it will focus its efforts on beefing up non-interest income. Increasing fee-based income is one of the bank’s strategies going forward. — StarBiz
Advancecon Holdings gets SC nod to list on Main Market: Civil engineering company Advancecon Holdings Bhd has received the Securities Commission’s approval to list on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. The company targets to list by mid-2017. — StarBiz
Uber, millennials drive XL Axiata, Asia’s best performing telco stock: XL Axiata, a unit of Malaysia’s Axiata Group Bhd., has rallied 42% this year, the top stock in the MSCI AC Asia Telecommunication Services Index. — Bloomberg
Inta Bina Group gets Bursa nod to list: Building contractor Inta Bina Group Bhd has received Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd’s go-ahead for its initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities. It said the listing, slated for the second quarter of 2017, will involve the issuance of 107.05 million new shares, accounting for 20% of the enlarged capital. — StarBiz
Bilateral trade between Malaysia, OIC countries at RM145b in 2016: Bilateral trade between Malaysia and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries inched up 0.2% to RM145.18 billion in 2016 from RM144.87 billion the previous year. International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said exports to the OIC improved 5.1% year-on-year to RM82.07 billion, while imports amounted to RM63.11 billion. — Bernama
Only one-third of millennials able to own homes, says HSBC study: Just 35% of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1998) are able to afford to own homes, according to HSBC’s first Beyond the Bricks study. The study, which covered over 9,000 youths from nine countries, revealed that slow salary growth and rising property prices remained a challenge for millennials to own their own homes. — StarBiz
Foreign buying on Bursa at net RM3.23b in March so far: Foreign funds remained net buyers on Bursa Malaysia in week ended March 24 at RM1.08bil, which was the second consecutive week, according to MIDF Equities Research. It said the foreign liquidity tide on Bursa had continued to remain elevated for the second week running. Up to March 24, foreign buying was net RM3.23bil. - StarBiz
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