Market wrap: The Dow and S&P 500 finished slightly higher on Tuesday, stabilising after a weak start to the new year, though investor nervousness stayed high. After weak Chinese economic data drove stocks down sharply on Monday, the People's Bank of China on Tuesday injected US$20 billion into the financial system in a bid to help its markets. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 9.72 points, or 0.06%, to 17,158.66, the S&P 500 gained 4.05 points, or 0.2%, to 2,016.71 and the Nasdaq dropped 11.66 points, or 0.24%, to 4,891.43.
Forex summary
*The ringgit lost 0.18% to 4.3505 per US$
*It rose 0.25% to 4.6740 per euro
*Down 0.09% to 6.3814 to the pound sterling
*0.08% down to 3.0506 per Singapore dollar
*0.22% higher to 3.1150 per Aussie
*Down 0.03% to 3.6486 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices dropped over 2% towards its 11-year low on Tuesday, as traders shrugged off growing tensions between two of the world's biggest oil producers and focused instead on a stronger U.S. dollar and swelling US crude inventories. Brent crude prices LCOc1 fell 80 cents to settle at US$36.42 a barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
US auto sales in 2015 set record after strong December: Automakers on Tuesday set a new US sales record for 2015 even as December sales fell short of expectations, and most forecasters said sales should rise to another record this year. For full year 2015, US sales hit a record of 17.47 million vehicles, breaking the mark of 17.41 million vehicles in 2000, according to Autodata Corp. - Reuters
Verizon launches auction to sell data centres: Verizon Communications Inc has started a process to sell its data centre assets, hoping to fetch more than US$2.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, as the US telecommunications conglomerate focuses on its core business. - Reuters
Deutsche Bank cuts US GDP forecasts: Deutsche Bank economists on Tuesday reduced their forecast on US economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2015 and first quarter of 2016 due to recent disappointing data on trade, construction spending and manufacturing activity. They said in a research note they pared their view on domestic gross product in the last three months of last year by 1 percentage point to 0.5%. The economists scaled back their first-quarter GDP forecast by half a point, to 1.5%. - Reuters
Samsung urges US court to overturn US$120 million patent verdict for Apple: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd urged a US appeals court on Tuesday to find that a jury in 2014 should not have made the South Korean company pay nearly US$120 million to Apple Inc for infringing three patents. Apple's "quick links" patent, which accounts for more than US$98 million of the damages award, was the main focus in Samsung's latest effort to overturn major court victories by the US technology company over the past two years. - Reuters
Top local stories
1MDB explains discrepancy: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) clarified on Tuesday that the valuation contained in the announcement made by China Railway to the Hong Kong exchange did not refer to the land sale valuation, but instead to their estimated share of the net equity value of the Bandar Malaysia project. This, it said, was based on certain assumptions that are subject to further negotiations during the completion period between January and June 2016. - StarBiz
Lotte Chemical eyes RM2.17b IPO: Lotte Chemical Corp, the South Korean plastics manufacturer, is exploring an initial public offering of its Malaysian petrochemicals arm that could raise more than US$500mil (RM2.17bil), sources said. The unit Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Sdn Bhd could sell shares in Kuala Lumpur as soon as the second half of this year, they said. - Bloomberg
Omesti wins e-Courts phase 2 contract: Omesti Bhd
, which completed the first phase of e-Courts in 2011, has secured a RM31.015mil contract for the second phase of the court infrastructure digitisation programme. - StarBiz
NCB shares to be suspended on Jan 28: Trading in shares of port operator NCB Holdings Bhd will be suspended on Jan 28. This follows MMC Corp Bhd’s unconditional takeover offer to buy all the remaining shares in NCB, MMC told Bursa Malaysia. MMC also said it has extended its unconditional takeover offer by another two weeks to Jan 20, 2016. - StarBiz
China’s agile to unveil project in Mont’ Kiara: Agile Real Estate Development Sdn Bhd is set to launch its residential project valued at RM1.4bil on a 4.05ha site in Mont’ Kiara on Saturday. The project, consisting of 11 towers of low- and high-rise structures, was scheduled for completion in 2019, it said in a statement. - Bernama
LBS Bina confident of RM1.2b sales: LBS Bina Group Bhd aims to achieve RM1.2bil sales for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 after meeting its target for last year. It is confident of hitting the target through planned launches worth RM2.5bil in gross development value said group managing director Tan Sri Lim Hock San. - StarBiz
Poll: Business confidence rebounded in Q1: Optimism of Malaysian firms has improved in the first quarter of this year, Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Business Optimism Index shows. D&B Malaysia said all six indicators in the quarterly study – volume of sales, net profits, selling price, inventory level, employees and new orders – have sprung into positive territory for the period. - Bernama
Petronas Dagangan can't disclose impact of Vietnam LPG sale: Petronas Dagangan Bhd says it is unable to reveal the financial impact of liquefied petroleum gas business divestment in Vietnam as it is tied to the non-disclosure agreement in the sale and purchase agreement. The divestment was part of the group’s portfolio rationalisation strategy. - StarBiz
VS Industry to gain from relocation plans of MNCs: VS Industry Bhd anticipates it will benefit from the decision by the multinational corporations (MNCs) in the first-tier cities to relocate parts of their operations to Asean countries. - StarBiz
Maybank IB: Liquidity in banking system still adequate: Overall liquidity in the banking system remains adequate despite headwinds in the financial sector that may continue occurring throughout this year, according to Maybank IB Research. It said the banking system was well-supported by a high liquidity coverage ratio and surplus liquidity at Bank Negara. - StarBiz
Aspen eyes Singapore, Malaysia listing: Aspen Group, a property developer based in Penang, is targeting to list in Singapore and Malaysia this year.
Chief executive officer Datuk M Murly said the group was now in advanced stages of discussion with the Singapore authorities, which it hoped to complete by the second quarter. It has also started talks with banks in Malaysia, he said. - StarBiz
No firm price tag yet for HSR: The hefty price tags being bandied about for the construction of the high speed rail (HSR) project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are mere speculation, MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal said. “Any estimate out there is purely speculation. We have an internal estimate for working purposes, but it’s never been made public," he said. - Edge FD
AGMs/EGMs
Top Glove Corp Bhd
Time: 11.30am/12.30pm
Venue: TG Grand Ballroom 2, Level 9, Top Glove Tower of 16, Persiaran Setia Dagang, Setia Alam, Seksyen U13, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor.
At the AGM, Top Glove seeks shareholder approval for:
* The declaration of a single tier final dividend of 12 sen per share (24%) and special single tier final dividend of 3 sen per share (6%) for the financial year ended Aug 31, 2015.
* To re-elect Lee Kim Meow, Puan Sri Tong Siew Bee, Lim Hooi Sin, Datuk Noripah Binti Kamso and Sharmila Sekarajasekaran as directors.
At the EGM, Top Glove seeks shareholder approval for:
* One-for-one issue of bonus shares
* An employees' share grant plan of up to 15% of the share capital
* Increase in the authorised share capital to RM800 million from RM400 million
Points of interest to be raised by Minority shareholder watchdog Group:
* What were the occupancy rates for Top Glove Tower and its contribution in terms of revenue and profit to the group?
* Investment securities increased substantially to RM669.7 million in FY15 from RM154.3 million in FY14. What was the return/gain in amount and percentage terms from the investment securities in FY15?
* What was the rationale for investing in investment securities instead of returning the cash to shareholders or repaying borrowings?
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