Breakfast briefing: Wednesday, December 9

Market wrap: US stocks fell in a choppy session on Tuesday as lower oil prices pressured energy stocks for a fifth day and weak Chinese trade data reignited fears of a global slowdown. Data released overnight showed China's imports fell for the 13th consecutive month, with an 8.7% decline in November compared with a year earlier. The China data added pressure to the energy and materials sectors as it sparked fears about a global recession and demand worries for commodities. - Reuters

The DJIA fell 162.51 points, or 0.92%, to 17,568, the S&P 500 lost 13.48 points, or 0.65%, to 2,063.59 and the Nasdaq dropped 3.57 points, or 0.07%, to 5,098.24.

Forex

*The ringgit rose 0.08% to 4.2580 per US$

*It declined 0.13% to 4.6373 per euro

*Up 0.10% to 6.3966 to the pound sterling

*0.06% down to 3.0273 per Singapore dollar

*0.27% lower to 3.0796 per Aussie

*Up 0.09% to 3.4633 per 100 yen

Energy

Oil futures ended lower with Brent down over 1% on Tuesday after plumbing near seven-year lows on fears global oil producers will pump even more crude in battle for share in a saturated market. Brent LCOc1 finished the session down 47 cents at US$40.26 per barrel, after a session low at US$39.81. - Reuters

Top foreign stories

Yahoo will not spin off Alibaba stake: Yahoo Inc is weighing a sale of its core Internet business and will not sell its stake in Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, CNBC reported. The moves represent a stark rejection of chief executive officer Marissa Mayer's plan to sell the US$30 billion Alibaba stake, and revive the core Internet unit focusing on growing mobile, video and social media ads. - Reuters

GE to sell Hyundai Capital stake to Hyundai Motor Group, Fubon: General Electric Co will sell a 43% stake in unlisted Hyundai Capital to Hyundai Motor Group and Taiwan's Fubon Group for up to 1.4 trillion won (US$1.19 billion), the Korea Economic Daily reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. - Reuters

Top local stories

No impact on TNB: Despite consumers in Peninsular Malaysia having to pay 0.73 sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) more for electricity for the six months beginning Jan 1, the impact of the rebate’s implementation is neutral on Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB). This is because the utility company will return some RM762mil in net savings to consumers in the first half of next year. - StarBiz

Astro to maintain dividend payout: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, which saw its net profit slide 6.5% to RM106.01mil for the third quarter on unrealised foreign exchange impact, said it will maintain its dividend policy amid the volatile landscape. The company declared a dividend of 2.75 sen per share for the quarter. - StarBiz

Star seeks to be on syariah list again: Star Media Group Bhd is in the process of complying with the Securities Commission’s (SC) requirements to be reinstated into the syariah-compliant list of stocks on the local bourse. - StarBiz

Proton cars likely to cost more next month: Proton Holdings Bhd is considering increasing car prices from January 2016 due to the weaker ringgit. "We are evaluating our price structure and the percentage of the price increase will depend on the models," said chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah. - StarBiz

KUB to acquire targeted assets: KUB Malaysia Bhd is planning to acquire assets in the ICT, power and plantation sectors after its recent disposal of two subsidiary companies, said president and group managing director Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Zin. He said KUB was actively reviewing several businesses as “targets for acquisitions” to strengthen its core businesses. - StarBiz

Transocean director, 2 others charged with insider trading: The Securities Commission (SC) has charged a director of Transocean Holdings Bhd (THB) and two other people with insider trading. They have claimed trial. - StarBiz

GIC, Jardine Group keen on MRCB: GIC Pvt Ltd and the Jardine Matheson Group are said to be interested in Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB), and could be taking up a stake in the company via its recent proposed private placement exercise, according to a source close to the matter. - Edge FD

RM36.06b contracts earmarked for bumi firms: A total of RM36.06 billion contracts out of RM78.84 billion worth of investments under 12 mega projects have been earmarked for bumiputra companies, according to the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Report Card 2015. The 12 projects include the mass rapid transit (MRT) Line 1 and MRT Line 2, KL118 Tower, the West Coast Expressway (Taiping to Banting), Bukit Bintang City Centre, Asia Aer- ospace City, and the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway. - Edge FD

KUB sees better earnings, lower debt in FY16: KUB Malaysia Bhd expects an improvement in earnings in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 on gains of RM5.93 million realised on the disposal of two non-core assets. Proceeds from the disposal will go towards reducing its borrowings, which stood at RM61.89 million as at Sept 30. - Edge FD

Hibiscus dismisses claims by Rex: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd said Singapore-listed Rex International Holding Ltd has incorrectly claimed that the former did not disclose any changes to its shareholding in Masirah Oil Ltd held through Lime Petroleum plc. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Hibiscus said Rex was wrong for stating that Lime’s interest in Masirah Oil — the holder of the Block 50 Oman concession — has changed from 64% to 6.4%. - Edge FD

AGMs/EGMs

Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor

Time: 10am

Venue:  Shah Alam Convention Centre, No. 4 Jalan Perbandaran 14/9, Shah Alam, Selangor