Market wrap: Big tech and energy sector gains drove US stocks higher on Tuesday, as an index of 100 major Nasdaq companies finished at a record closing high. The three major indexes continued a positive start for November, after posting their best monthly performances in four years in October. The Nasdaq 100 index closed up 0.3% at 4,719.05, surpassing for the first time levels reached during the dot-com boom in 2000.
The DJIA rose 89.39 points, or 0.5% to 17,918.15, the S&P 500 gained 5.74 points, or 0.27%, to 2,109.79 and the Nasdaq added 17.98 points, or 0.35%, to 5,145.13.
Forex summary
*The ringgit rises 0.70% to 4.2580 per US$
*It is up 0.98% to 4.6687 per euro
*Up 0.67% to 6.5661 to the pound sterling
*0.41% higher to 3.0555 per Singapore dollar
*0.56% higher to 3.0633 per Aussie
*Up 0.67% to 3.5181 per 100 yen
Energy
Crude prices settled up about 4% on Tuesday as a rally in US gasoline and diesel amid an outage on a key pipeline system added support to oil markets already boosted by an industry strike in Brazil and force majeure for Libyan crude loadings. Brent LCOc1 settled up US$1.75, or 3.6%, at US$50.54 a barrel, after hitting a session high at US$50.91. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
US fines Takata, bans volatile chemical in its air bags: The top US auto safety regulator on Tuesday imposed a relatively modest US$70-million fine on air-bag supplier Takata Corp and ordered it to stop making inflators that use ammonium nitrate. - Reuters
Investors most relaxed in two years over Fed 'liftoff': survey: The risks to financial markets posed by a rise in US interest rates are at their lowest point in two years, according to a survey of investors published on Tuesday, with slowing growth in China by far the greater concern. Only 7% of 651 global investors polled by the UK bank said US policy "normalisation" was the biggest risk over the next year, compared with 40% two years ago. - Reuters
BlackRock to buy Bank of America's US$87b money-market fund business: Bank of America Corp, the No. 2 US bank, has agreed to sell its US$87 billion money-market fund business to BlackRock Inc in one of the cash-management industry's largest deals ever. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The agreement is expected to lift BlackRock's global cash-management business to US$372 billion from about US$285 billion, according to the New York-based company. - Reuters
Top local stories
MRCB land strategy: The RM1.6bil land swap deal that Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) secured to regenerate Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex (NSC) is in line with the company’s strategy to expand its land bank. It further notes it will be able to internally generate funds to sufficiently finance the two-phased project to refurbish and upgrade Bukit Jalil NSC into KL Sports City over the next five to six years. - StarBiz
PetChem makes entry into Rapid projects: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd
(PetChem) has acquired three petrochemical firms, marking its entry into Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) projects in Pengerang, Johor. The group also said net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 climbed 38.6% to RM916mil on revenue that hiked 26.2% to RM3.6bil dut to higher sales volumes, favourable exchange rate and lower feedstock costs. - StarBiz
PetDag results better than expected: Petronas Dagangan Bhd's net profit increased 36.46% to RM218.88mil for the third quarter, mainly supported by higher margins from the retail and commercial segments. Revenue was lower at RM6.53bil versus RM8.23bil a year earlier due to a drop in average sell- ing price and volume. The company declared an interim dividend of 14 sen per share. - StarBiz
Hibiscus under pressure: Shares in upstream oil exploration and production company Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd fell as much as 50% in intraday trading due to margin calls. The shares hit an all-time low of 25.5 sen early Tuesday morning before rebounding to close at 34 sen. - StarBiz
Maybank to issue US$500mil notes: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has set up a US commercial paper (CP) programme of up to US$500mil (RM2.1bil) in nominal value. The bank said that under the CP programme, its New York branch might issue, from time to time, notes up to a maxi- mum aggregate amount outstanding at any time of that nominal value. - StarBiz
Astral wins RM80.5mil contract in Sabah: Astral Supreme Bhd has received a RM80.53mil subcontract to undertake the main building works under the People’s Housing Programme in Kota Belud, Sabah.
F&N quarterly earnings down 9%: Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd’s (F&N) net profit for the fourth quarter declined 8.8% to RM56.72mil on a revenue that rose 4.5% to RM1bil. The company recommended a 35.50 sen dividend for the quarter. - StarBiz
Lay Hong in talks with two foreign parties about stake deal: Poultry player Lay Hong Bhd, which was issued its second unusual market activity query by Bursa Malaysia, said it is in talks with two foreign parties about taking up stakes in the company. Lay Hong said both negotiations were in progress and it expected to conclude them in less than two months, either with one party or both. - StarBiz
Cheque usage down 10% in 2014: Since the implementation of the Pricing Reform Framework in May 2013 and the e-Payment Incentive Fund Framework in January 2015, cheque usage which had only declined at a marginal rate of 2% on average from 2011 to 2013, had dropped at a higher rate of 10% in 2014, said Bank Negara deputy governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim.
MMHE reports lower Q3 net profit: Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE) posted another set of lower earnings for its third quarter financial results due to ongoing projects and its shrinking order book. For the third quarter, its net profit fell to RM16.9mil compared to RM18mil in its second quarter, and 56.5% lower against the third quarter of 2014. Revenue declined 20.7% to RM436.2mil.
Tasek Corp Q3 net profit falls: Tasek Corp Bhd posted a 16% decline in net profit to RM18.04mil for the third quarter. The company had to lower its cement selling price due to continuous price competition in the market and incurring higher cost from the weaker ringgit. Its revenue for the quarter however was 11.36% higher to RM165.57mil on higher sales volume by both cement and ready-mixed concrete divisions. - StarBiz
FGV completes sale of Canadian unit for RM567mil: Felda Global Ventures (FGV) Holdings Bhd has completed the sale of its loss-making Canadian subsidiary, and received the cash purchase price of C$172.7mil (RM567.1mil). The subsidiary, Twin Rivers Technologies Entreprises De Transformation De Graines Oléagineuses Du Québec Inc was sold to Canadian grain and oilseeds marketer and handler, Viterra Inc as part of FGV’s five-year transformation strategy. -StarBiz
BAT ups prices: British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT), the country’s largest manufacturer of cigarettes, is raising prices across its cigarette portfolio by as much as RM3.20 per pack on Wednesday, in an immediate reaction to an excise duty hike on tobacco announced by the government on Tuesday. - Edge FD
Johor's first halal biotech park: Property developer United Malayan Land Bhd (UMLand) will launch the first integrated halal biotech park in Johor, estimated to carry a gross development value of RM1.5 billion, next month, for which it will target local small and medium enterprises involved in the bio economy as tenants. - Edge FD
S P Setia shortlisted to bid for redevelopment of Aussie hospital site: S P Setia Bhd in a joint venture with Investec Australia Ltd (IAL), has been shortlisted to bid for the contract to transform the A$500 million (RM1.5 billion) old Royal Adelaide Hospital site into a more upscale area, according to The Australian newspaper on Tuesday. The daily reported that the S P Setia-IAL JV is one of four short- listed bidders in the race for the mixed-use project. - Edge FD
Icon Offshore sees more boardroom changes: Icon Offshore Bhd deputy chief executive officer Captain Hassan Ali has been appointed to chief operating officer effective Nov 19, replacing Rahman Yusof.
This is the company’s second boardroom change in one week, following the appointment of Amir Hamzah Azizan as the new managing director on Monday. - Edge FD
Xian Leng fails to get nod for par value reduction: Xian Leng Holdings Bhd failed to obtain the shareholders’ approval for the cancellation of 80 sen from the par value of the group’s ordinary shares of RM1 each at an EGM on Tuesday. The special resolution needs the agreement of at least 75% of its shareholders — but only 58.05% representing 29.67 million shares voted for the proposal, with the remainder 41.95% voting against it, the company said. - Edge FD
Takaful grows faster than conventional insurance: Malaysia’s takaful industry grew at a faster rate than conventional insurance, recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4% in the last five years and outperforming the conventional insurance’s CAGR of 7.8%. Malaysian Takaful Association chairman Ahmad Rizlan Azman said takaful contributions last year were RM6.3 billion, accounting for a 13% share of the total insurance market. The conventional insurance segment contributed RM42.5 billion. - Edge FD
AGMs/EGMs
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