Filings showed that the largest provident fund in the country had disposed of a block of 800,000 shares in DRB-Hicom last Wednesday.
Energy
Brent crude was 0.19% lower to US$46.91 per barrel at 3.31pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.01% to 4.2575 versus the US dollar at 3.42pm.
Top foreign stories
China stands pat on rates this time after Fed lifts benchmark: China’s central bank left interest rates for open market operations unchanged on Thursday, shrugging off an overnight increase in the US Federal Reserve’s key policy rate. The rate for seven-day reverse repos remained at 2.45%, the 14-day tenor at 2.60% and the 28-day tenor at 2.75%, the PBoC said. — StarBiz
Google tax deal to shake up how tech firms operate in Indonesia: Alphabet Inc’s Google Asia Pacific headquarters has agreed on future tax payments in Indonesia, the communications minister said, paving the way for a shake up in how technology firms operate in South-East Asia’s biggest economy. — Reuters
Western Digital seeks court injunction to block sale of Toshiba chip unit: Western Digital Corp has sought a court injunction to prevent Toshiba Corp from selling its chip business without the US firm’s consent - a move that threatens to throw the fiercely contested auction into disarray. — Reuters
Islamic finance industry frets as Dana Gas deems its sukuk invalid: A decision by Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas to declare US$700 million of its sukuk invalid has sent shivers through the Islamic finance industry, raising concern about the safety of syariah-compliant debt instruments in general. — Reuters
Hong Kong central bank raises base rate 25 bps after Fed hike: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) raised the base rate charged through its overnight discount window by 25 basis points to 1.50% on Thursday, and the central bank chief said he expects banks in the city to gradually increase mortgage rates. — Reuters
Top local stories
HSBC investing over RM1b for HQ in Tun Razak Exchange: HSBC is investing US$250mil (RM1.06bil) to build its future headquarter office in the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) under its commitment to develop Malaysia as a financial hub in Asean. “The US$250mil investment for the future HSBC Malaysia TRX headquarters, with a minimum office space of 568,000 sq ft, makes HSBC the first foreign bank to invest in the TRX development,” it said. — StarBiz
Eco World posts RM34m second-quarter earnings: Eco World Development Bhd posted a net profit of RM33.68mil in the second quarter, marginally lower than the RM34.67mil achieved a year ago. Revenue was 9% higher at RM670mil against RM614.6mil previously. Separately, Eco World International Bhd’s net loss narrowed to RM24.8mil for the second quarter from RM60.8mil a year ago. Revenue stood at RM37,000 against RM135,000 a year earlier. — StarBiz
EPF warns members of false messages, scams: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has warned members of false messages and scams which have been circulating via the social media, short messaging service (SMS) and WhatsApp application. The pension fund said it had identified a false SMS message sent to members, claiming their EPF accounts would be blocked within 24 hours, unless they contacted a given mobile phone number. — Bernama
Astro to cut capex following digitisation: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd
sees its annual capital expenditure (capex) of RM500 million to gradually decline as the media group embarks on thorough operation digitalisation. Chief executive officer Datuk Rohana Rozhan said the company expected the capex to reduce to RM460 million next year, — Bernama
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