MarketWrap: US stocks gave up early gains to end flat on Thursday as consumer discretionary shares fell and investors showed caution ahead of the April jobs report. - Reuters
The DJIA closed up 9.45 points, or 0.05%, to 17,660.71, the S&P 500 lost 0.49 point, or 0.02%, to 2,050.63 and the Nasdaq dropped 8.55 points, or 0.18%, to 4,717.09.
Forex summary
*The ringgit rises 0.01% to 4.0075 per US$
*It gained 0.34% to 4.5684 per euro
*Up 0.13% to 5.8039 to the pound sterling
*0.20% higher to 2.9477 per Singapore dollar
*0.13% higher to 2.9920 per Aussie
*Up 0.08% to 3.7337 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices surged on Thursday after a raging wildfire near Canada's oil sands region curbed output that mainly flows to the United States, before settling off their highs as a rebounding dollar and a huge US stockpile build cut into gains. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
News Corp's quarterly revenue falls 7.3%, profit hit by charge: News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal and book publisher HarperCollins, reported its fifth drop in quarterly revenue in a row as print ad sales declined and a strong dollar hit income from outside the United States. The 7.3% fall in revenue was worse than analysts had expected. - Reuters
Alibaba's revenue soars, but new ventures hit profit: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's biggest e-commerce company, said fourth-quarter sales rose 39% after its core online shopping business grew, but profit fell for the first time as it spent on ventures like food delivery. Net income excluding extraordinary items shrank 1.4% to 7.6 billion yuan from the previous year, as the company continued to invest heavily in new but shakier businesses. - Reuters
Sanofi ready to up offer for drugmaker Medivation, could oust board: France's Sanofi said it could raise its proposed US$9.3 billion deal to buy Medivation if the US cancer drugmaker engaged in talks, threatening to go directly to shareholders to oust the board if not. - Reuters
Top local stories
Yuan weighs on ringgit: The selldown in the ringgit, despite the relative stability in crude oil prices and the broad US dollar weakness, is due to the impact of the depreciating yuan on the Malaysian currency. Analysts say fears over China’s currency policy move had become the major culprit driving the ringgit’s decline over the last few days. - StarBiz
Genting gets nod from Nevada gaming board: Genting Bhd
has obtained the approval of the Nevada Gaming Control Board to become a publicly-traded entity and finally move forward with its US$4bil (RM16bil) Resorts World Las Vegas development, a report said. - StarBiz
Gabungan AQRS in PR1MA project tie-up: Gabungan AQRS Bhd and its subsidiary Gabungan Strategik Sdn Bhd have agreed to develop PR1MA Homes in Kuantan, Pahang, for RM424.23mil through a joint venture with Monolight IBS Building System Sdn Bhd. - StarBiz
DRB-Hicom aborts sale of stake in Singapore mall: DRB-Hicom Bhd has terminated its plan to sell 90% equity interest in Corwin Holding Pte Ltd, which owns the eight-level The Verge shopping mall in Singapore. - StarBiz
MBSB to continue closing the gap: Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) will continue to bite the bullet with its estimated RM1.6bil impairment programme to “close the gap” towards becoming a full-fledged banking institution. Chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Zaini Othman said the “positive part” about the programme was that it had pushed the group’s loan coverage ratio up to 92% from 77%. - StarBiz
Three-A net profit up 90% to RM6.7m: Three-A Resources Bhd’s net profit for its first quarter surged 90% to RM6.69mil from RM3.52mil mainly due to higher turnover. Revenue increased to RM107.57mil from RM74.59mil a year earlier, as a result of higher sales of the group’s products. - StarBiz
Globetronics to invest RM45mil in new products: Globetronics Technology Bhd is allocating RM45mil this year to develop new sensor, light-emitting diode and quartz crystal timing products for smart devices, general lighting and consumer electronic products. It will start commercial production of the new sensors next month. - StarBiz
Syed Faisal is new Proton chairman: Proton Holdings Bhd has appointed Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar Syed Ali Rethza Albar, the group managing director of DRB-Hicom Bhd, as its new non-executive chairman effective May 5. - StarBiz
LTH offers to sell London office: Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) plans to offer the London headquarters of law firm King & Wood Mallesons for sale, according to one of its investment managers. The building is expected to sell for about 200 million pounds, sources say. - Bloomberg
CPO price seen at RM2,500-RM2,900 this month: Crude palm oil (CPO) price is expected to trade in the RM2,500 to RM2,900 per tonne range this month, as palm oil supplies are expected to get tighter due to weaker-than-expected supply, while demand picks up ahead of Ramadan, according to CIMB Research. - StarBiz
Wing Tai swings into first quarterly net loss: Wing Tai Malaysia Bhd recorded its first quarterly net loss of RM941,000 or 0.2 sen per share for the third quarter due to dwindling contributions from its property development and retail divisions. Revenue declined 24.71% to RM62.48 million. - Edge FD
Huawei seeks to increase South Pacific market share to 15%: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is looking to expand its market share in the South Pacific region which includes Malaysia to 15% by expanding its retail presence and offerings. - Edge FD
MWE plans to sell 9 parcels of land, golf club stake: MWE Holdings Bhd intends to sell nine parcels of leasehold land and its entire stake in MWE Golf & Country Club Bhd to New Fields Land Sdn Bhd subsidiaries for RM55 million and RM1 respectively. - Edge FD
Financial products meta search site launches in Malaysia: Singapore-based financial technology start-up GoBear on Thursday launched its Malaysia website, a meta search engine that offers online comparisons of insurance and financial products. - Edge FD
AGMs/EGMs
Hiap Teck Venture Bhd
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Function Room 1, 1st Floor, Setia City Convention Centre, Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor
Hiap Teck seeks shareholder approval for:
* A renounceable rights issue of redeemable convertible unsecured Islamic debt securities.
* A 2-for-1 bonus issue.
* To increase the authorised share capital to RM2 million.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
