Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during the annual Philip Gamble Memorial Lecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. Yellen said the U.S. central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year, even as she acknowledged that economic "surprises" could lead them to change that plan. Bloomberg
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Brent crude was 0.62% higher to US$55.48 per barrel at 3.39pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.05% to 4.1895 versus the US dollar at 3.49pm.
Top foreign stories
Fed conflicted by tepid US inflation, global economic rebound: Caught between a lull in US inflation and a stronger global economy, the Federal Reserve is expected on Wednesday to signal whether it will raise interest rates for a third time this year or back off until prices rise more briskly. — Reuters
Yanlord, Perennial’s offer for Singapore’s United Engineers fails: A plan to acquire Singapore’s United Engineers Ltd by Yanlord Land Group and Perennial Real Estate Holdings that valued the century-old property group and a stake in a subsidiary at US$1.4 billion has failed on low shareholder acceptance. — Reuters
Australia court upholds appeal against Tabcorp’s US$4.9b buyout of Tatts: An Australian court upheld on Wednesday an appeal against betting firm Tabcorp Holdings Ltd’s agreed A$6.15 billion (US$4.9 billion) buyout of lotteries operator Tatts Group Ltd. — Reuters
Thyssenkrupp, Tata Steel agree European steel merger: Thyssenkrupp and Indian peer Tata Steel on Wednesday struck a preliminary agreement to combine their European steel operations in a 50:50 joint venture, creating the continent’s No. 2 steelmaker after ArcelorMittal. — Reuters
Toshiba selects Bain group as buyer of its memory chip business: Japan’s Toshiba Corp has selected a group led by US private equity firm Bain Capital to buy its prized memory chip unit, three people with knowledge of the talks said on Wednesday, the latest dramatic twist to a highly contentious auction. The decision was made by Toshiba’s board and will be announced later on Wednesday, two sources said. — Reuters
Japan exports surge at fastest in nearly 4 years on global demand: Booming shipments of cars and electronics in August drove up Japan’s exports at the fastest pace in nearly four years, further evidence that overseas demand is strong enough to support healthy economic growth. The 18.1% annual increase in exports was the fastest since November 2013 and handily beat the median estimate for a 14.7% annual rise seen in a Reuters poll. — Reuters
Airbus opens China A330 plant amid market push: Airbus SE on Wednesday opened its Chinese completion plant for A330 jets, with hopes that an increased presence in the world’s fastest growing aviation market would help boost demand for the firm’s profitable but ageing wide-body jets. — Reuters
Top local stories
Bank Negara: International reserves not only means to meet external obligations: Bank Negara says international reserves are not the only means to meet external obligations and also since 2015, Malaysia’s external assets exceeded its external liabilities. It said Malaysia’s net international investment position of 3.3% of gross national income strengthened the country’s resilience to a variety of shocks, including potential outflows, in response to a Bloomberg report. The central bank said the report presented an unbalanced and simplistic assessment of Malaysia’s international reserves adequacy, by focusing only on a rigid interpretation of two economic indicators. — StarBiz
MUFG sells 412m CIMB shares, reportedly for RM2.56b: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd confirmed that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)’s banking entity, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, has sold its entire 412 million shares, or 4.6% stake, in CIMB via an overnight block trade. Bloomberg reported the Japanese group raised RM2.56bil (US$610mil) from the stake sale. — StarBiz
About 14.5m EPF contributors may be impacted by PLUS sale: There is rising concern that some 14.5 million contributors to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) may lose out on a steady stream of dividend income if the pension fund sells its 49% in highway operator, PLUS Malaysia Bhd. If the sale goes through, contributors feel that EPF would have lost its valuable income from toll collection and, as a result, will stop paying good dividends to contributors. Analysts say PLUS represents a core business for Khazanah and a core investment for EPF and was an important income generator for both. — Bernama
Inflation rate up 3.7% in August, exceeds forecast: Malaysia’s inflation rate rose at a faster pace of 3.7% in August 2017 from a year ago, exceeding a forecast of a 3.4% increase, mainly fuelled by higher petrol prices, the statistics department said The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 119.9 in August from 115.6 a year ago, — StarBiz
Daya Materials completes vessel sale for US$100m: Daya Materials Bhd has completed the disposal of its offshore subsea construction vessel, Siem Daya 1, via the disposal of wholly-owned subsidiary Daya Gobal 1 Pte Ltd for US$100mil. The sale to Siem Industries Inc will reduce the group’s debts by 406.9mil or about 62% to RM253.1mil and relieve the group’s interest expense of about RM19mil a year. — StarBiz
Cloudaron set to be first listing on LEAP Market: Singapore-based Information technology solution provider Cloudaron Group Bhd will become the first company to list on the Bursa Malaysia Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market. The company plans to issue 50 million new shares, or 6.4% of its enlarged share capital, at 11 sen each to raise RM5.5mil. — StarBiz
August vehicle sales pick up on-month: Vehicle sales rose 6.5% to 51,720 units in August 2017 from July, boosted by promotional campaigns by carmakers and due to the fulfilment of back orders as the e-registration system was back on track. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) expects vehcile sales to be maintained in September. — StarBiz
Sime Darby completes sale of MLDC: Sime Darby Bhd unit unit Sime Darby Property Bhd has completed the sale of its entire stake in Malaysia Land Development Company Bhd (MLDC) to Datuk Seri Tong Seech Wi for a cash consideration of RM1. — StarBiz
AirAsia launches direct route from JB to Macao: AirAsia Bhd launched a new direct route to Macao from Johor Baru to further expand the southern hub. The low-cost carrier is offering promotional all-in-fares from RM129 one way from now to Oct 1, 2017 for the travel between Nov 28, 2017, and Nov 21, 2018. — StarBiz
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