Volkswagen owners in South Korea are following their US counterparts in suing the German automaker over the emissions scam.-AFP
Market wrap: US stocks ended a volatile session slightly lower on Tuesday as a late-day rally led by materials and healthcare shares offset another big drop in oil prices. The late rally was fairly broad-based, suggesting a possible change in sentiment. - Reuters
The DJIA closed down 12.67 points, or 0.08%, to 16,014.38, the S&P 500 lost 1.23 points, or 0.07%, to 1,852.21 and the Nasdaq dropped 14.99 points, or 0.35%, to 4,268.76.
Forex summary
*The ringgit rises 0.17% to 4.1640 per US$
*It falls 0.84% to 4.7019 per euro
*Up 0.01% to 6.0214 to the pound sterling
*0.30% lower to 2.9839 per Singapore dollar
*0.10% lower to 2.9376 per Aussie
*Down 0.46% to 3.6398 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices slid for a fourth straight session on Tuesday and teetered close to 12-1/2-year lows hit last month, after weak demand forecasts from the US government and the Western world's energy watchdog, while weak equities also pressured prices. Brent crude oil settled down US$2.56, or 7.8%, at US$30.32 a barrel. It was the largest drop in a day for Brent since Sept 1. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Rates markets, at odds with Fed, seek clarity from Yellen: Financial markets are keen to know if Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has absorbed their message to her: stifle your rate hike plans. In the 52 days since her last press conference on US rate hike, markets have been roiled with volatility and increasing doubt about the health of the US and global economies. In that time, the S&P 500 has lost nearly 11% of its value and the 10-year note's yield has declined by half a percentage point. The upshot: Investors have abandoned any notion that more rate increases are coming from the Fed any time soon. - Reuters
Iran says ready to talk with Saudi over oil market conditions: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said on Tuesday that Tehran is ready to negotiate with Saudi Arabia over the current conditions in the global oil markets, Iran's Press TV reported. "We support any form of dialogue and cooperation with Opec member states including Saudi Arabia," he said. - Reuters
Peers circle Volkswagen's large engines unit: Peers from China, Europe and the United States have recently told Volkswagen they would like to buy the operations of MAN that are not central to its trucks business, sources said, adding that the unit may be valued at up to 4-5 billion euros (US$4.51-US$5.6 billion). Volkswagen has so far stuck to its line that the business, which made an operating profit of 206 million euros on sales of 3.3 billion euros in 2014, is not for sale. - Reuters
Australia's CBA H1 cash profit up 4%: Commonwealth Bank of Australia , the country's top mortgage lender, on Wednesday posted a 4% gain in first-half cash profit, in line with expectations, while revenues slipped and loan impairment expenses increased. Cash profit for the six months ended Dec 31 rose to a record A$4.80 billion (US$3.39 billion) compared with A$4.62 billion a year ago and A$4.77 billion estimate of six analysts polled by Reuters. - Reuters
Top local stories
No certainty in toll hikes: While the Government allowed toll hikes on 17 urban highways last year, there is no certainty that concessions with roads cutting across states will also get the green light for rate hikes. Sources say the Malaysian Highway Authority was looking at the option of allowing the concessionaires to rework their financial numbers so that there is no increase in toll rates. - StarBiz
Dialog move a game changer?: Leading local oil and gas (O&G) player Dialog Group Bhd
may not be alone in calling off marginal oil field exploration. An analyst says more companies with risk sharing contracts with Petronas could opt to do the same. - StarBiz
Upside seen for Reits: Despite the prevailing market uncertainty, a confluence of factors have made real estate investment trusts an interesting investment proposition this year due to their high yeilds, say industry experts. - StarBiz
Prospects for Islamic finance still robust: The prospects for Islamic finance remains strong given the growing interest in syariah-compliant investment asset class, despite the inevitable correlation between oil price and Islamic wealth. Bahrain central bank governor Rasheed Al Maraj said while were some headwinds recently, the long-term growth outlook within its strongest markets in the Middle East and South-East Asia remained robust. - Bernama
PIE sees record 2015 results: PIE Industrial Bhd expects to post a new record results for the fiscal year ended Dec 2015, based on the first nine-month pre-tax profit of
RM44mil on a turnover of about RM400mil. - StarBiz
Pos Malaysia ties up with Gibraltar BSN: Pos Malaysia and Gibraltar BSN have inked a new distribution agreement for insurance products sold at Pos Malaysia branches nationwide. - StarBiz
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