Safe position: Debts undertaken by Astro have been hedged till maturity in both its principal and interest rates.
Energy
Brent crude was 0.86% higher to US$50.65 per barrel at 3.26pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.13% to 4.3415 versus the US dollar at 3.37pm.
Top foreign stories
OCBC agrees to buy National Australia Bank’s Asian wealth units: Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, South-East Asia’s second-largest lender, agreed to buy National Australia Bank Ltd’s wealth management business in Singapore and Hong Kong. OCBC said the business is made up of a mortgage portfolio of about US$1.7bil and deposits of some US$3.05bil. — Bloomberg
Exxon Mobil buys Singapore petrochemical plant, boosts output in Asia: Exxon Mobil Corp said on Thursday it has reached an agreement to buy a refining and petrochemical plant owned by Jurong Aromatics (JAC) in Singapore that will boost its output and meet demand in Asia. — Reuters
Macquarie-led group buys Australia’s Endeavour Energy for US$5.6b: The Australian state of New South Wales on Thursday said it has sold power grid Endeavour Energy to a consortium led by Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia’s biggest investment bank, for A$7.62 billion (US$5.61 billion). The price was a premium to Endeavour’s total regulated asset base of A$6.2 billion. — Reuters
French bank Credit Agricole’s Q1 profits surge higher: French bank Credit Agricole said its net income rose a near four-fold in the first quarter to 845 million euros from 227 million last year, as it moved on from a complex revamp of shareholding ties with its parent group and benefited from a surge in trading activity. Its revenue rose 24% to 4.7 billion euros. — Reuters
Top local stories
Japan competes with China, makes sales pitch to win Malaysia-Singapore rail project: Japan is stepping up efforts to win a Malaysia-Singapore high-speed railway project by sending a high-level mission to Kuala Lumpur to campaign for the adoption of the shinkansen bullet train system. — Straits Times
Boeing suspends 737 MAX flights due to engine issue: Boeing Co has temporarily halted test flights of its new 737 MAX aircraft due to an issue with the engine, which is jointly made by General Electric Co and Safran SA of France, just as Malindo Air was set to receive the first delivery on Monday. — StarBiz
March industrial output lower than expected at 4.6%: Malaysia’s industrial output expanded 4.6% in March from a year ago, boosted by the manufacturing sector, but the increase was lower than a Bloomberg survey for a 4.8% rise. The Statistics Department said the industrial production index came in higher on improved indices for manufacturing (5.9%) and mining (2.0%). — StarBiz
Astro launches NJOI Now: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd has launched a new video streaming service, NJOI Now, to provide Malaysians free access to on-demand entertainment. The free service includes access to over 2,200 movie titles and drama box sets, as well as tutorials that can be downloaded and stored on devices. — StarBiz
UOB unit drives FDI worth over RM83b into Asean: United Overseas Bank (UOB)’s foreign direct investment (FDI) advisory unit helped bring in more than RM83bil of business flows into Asean in 2016, double the amount in 2015. UOB said data from the FDI advisory unit showed the top investment destinations for global and Asian companies investing in the region in 2016 were Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore. — StarBiz
AmBank Islamic sees slightly higher loan growth in FY18: AmBank Islamic Bhd expects slightly higher loan growth than the industry’s average of between 4% and 5% in its financial year ending March 31, 2018 (FY18). Small and medium enterprises and mass affluent market would likely drive the loan growth. — Bernama
Lazada offers offline payment services in stores nationwide: Leading online store, Lazada Malaysia, is offering customers offline payment services in stores nationwide through its partnership with 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn Bhd and its strategic partner and technology provider for in-store payment services, MOLPay Malaysia. — Bernama
Mida in talks with auto firms to invest in Malaysia: The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) is in talks with several automotive companies that are interested in investing in Malaysia. Chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud, however, did not disclose details of the potential investors. — Bernama
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