Market wrap: Strong gains in Facebook and Alphabet helped Wall Street cut losses and stage a late-day rally, with major indexes closing near the unchanged mark. - Reuters
The DJIA was down 17.12 points, or 0.1%, to 16,449.18, the S&P 500 lost 0.86 point, or 0.04%, to 1,939.38 and the Nasdaq added 6.41 points, or 0.14%, to 4,620.37.
Forex summary
*The ringgit declines 0.36% to 4.1763 per US$
*It falls 0.81% to 4.5513 per euro
*Down 1.33% to 6.0248 to the pound sterling
*0.40% lower to 2.9341 per Singapore dollar
*0.67% lower to 2.9660 per Aussie
*Down 0.44% to 3.4547 per 100 yen
Energy
US crude oil prices slid as much as 7% on Monday, pressured by weak economic data from China, a US forecast for mild weather and growing doubts that Opec and non-Opec producers would come together to reduce the swelling global supply glut. Brent April crude futures LCOc1 settled at US$34.24 a barrel, down US$1.75, or 4.9%. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Yahoo to cut 15% jobs, close several units: Yahoo Inc chief executive Marissa Mayer is set to reveal cost-cutting plans that include slashing 15% of its workforce, or roughly 1,600 jobs, and closing several business units, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The plans are expected to be announced after Yahoo's fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, the Journal reported, citing sources. It did not specify which business units might be closed. - Reuters
US factories show signs of stabilisation: US manufacturing activity contracted in January for a fourth straight month as factories grappled with a strong dollar and lower oil prices forced energy firms to further cut spending, but the pace of the decline appeared to be slowing. - Reuters
Alphabet overtakes Apple in value: Alphabet Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, sending shares of Google's parent soaring in after-hours trading and making it the most valuable US company ahead of rival Apple Inc. The solid results eased investor concerns about the company's spending on ambitious projects. - Reuters
South Korea to unveil stimulus steps as inflation, exports falter: The South Korean government will unveil stimulus measures on Wednesday as a collapse in exports and cooling inflation threaten a fragile economic recovery. As a slowdown in China weighs on global growth, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said Seoul will take steps to boost faltering momentum in Asia's fourth-largest economy. - Reuters
Top local stories
Shell Refining stake sold at steep discount: Royal Dutch Shell is selling its entire 51% stake in Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) Bhd, or SRC, to Malaysia Hengyuan International Ltd (MHIL) for US$66.3mil (RM276mil). The transaction values SRC at RM551mil, or RM1.80 a share, while the shares closed Friday at RM4.94 giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.48bil. - StarBiz
New levy an extra burden for companies: The hike in annual levy for foreign workers is seen to hurt earnings of companies especially in the construction, manufacturing and plantation sectors. - StarBiz
Foreign inflows a boost for ringgit: The ringgit’s strengthening to a three-month high is a reflection of strong inflows of foreign capital Malaysia, said analysts. The ringgit has outperformed a slew of emerging market currencies in January, having strengthened from RM4.41 to RM4.13 in just 10 days. - StarBiz
Seda completes e-balloting of FiA applications: The Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (Seda) has concluded an e-balloting exercise for feed-in approval (FiA) applications for solar photo-voltaic (PV) for individual category with a total of 15 MW allocated for this year. Seda received a total of 4,425 qualified solar PV applications for the e-balloting exercise. - StarBiz
Moody’s expects Malaysia to narrow fiscal deficit: Moody’s Investors Service expects the Malaysian Government to narrow the fiscal deficit for a sixth consecutive year last year.
In its “Moodys Credit Outlook”, the rating agency said the Government has put together a package of both revenue and expenditure measures to maintain the trend of fiscal deficit consolidation. - Bernama
Weaker demand seen for condos in Klang Valley: The market for condominiums in the Klang Valley is expected to be more challenging over the next two years, due mainly to the large incoming supply scheduled for completion this year and in 2017. Henry Butcher Real Estate Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tan Chee Meng said the demand for non-landed properties is expected to be weaker than that for landed properties. - StarBiz
Spectrum reallocation goes to Celcom, DiGi, Maxis and U Mobile: Spectrum in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands will be reallocated among Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, Maxis Bhd
and U Mobile Sdn Bhd by August this year, said Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman Datuk Seri Dr Halim Shafie. He said the two bands of spectrum will be assigned for a fee - yet to be determined - for a period of 15 years. - Edge FD
Hai-O embarking on new plans: Hai-O hopes to shed its “conservative” image and will soon embark on several plans that include exploring new projects and strengthening its multilevel marketing business in the Asean region. - Edge FD
CAB confident of hitting RM1b revenue target in fY16: Poultry firm CAB Cakaran Corp Bhd is eyeing to hit RM1 billion in revenue for the current financial year ending Sept 30, 2016, after missing the target in FY15. The group recorded a net profit of RM16.04 million on revenue of RM891.69 million in FY15. - Edge FD
PKNS mulls listing waste management assets in three years: Selangor State Development Corp (PKNS), the investment arm of the Selangor government, is planning to list the waste management assets parked under its subsidiary Worldwide Holdings Bhd in the next three years. - Edge FD
AGMs/EGMs
NPC Resources Bhd
Time: 11am
Venue: Conference Room 3, 6th Floor, The Palace Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
NPC seeks shareholder approval for the disposal of 18 parcels of land in Labuk, Sabah, by the company's subsidiary Transglobe Enterprise Sdn Bhd to Ladang Sri Harapan (Sabah) Sdn Bhd for about RM74 million cash.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
