IBM forecast 2016 adjusted earnings of at least $13.50 per share, missing analysts' average estimate of $15 per share
Energy
Oil futures moved away from two-month lows on Tuesday as a brief halt in Iraqi crude loadings threatened to tighten supplies, but a drop in bullish bets by investors kept a lid on price gains. Brent crude was at US$46.72 per barrel at 0712 GMT, up 47 cents or 1% from their last close and off a low of US$45.90 hit in the prior session. — Reuters
Forex
Ringgit up 0.18% to 3.9868 versus the US dollar at 3.47pm.
Top foreign stories
Japanese exporters hurt by strong yen, threatening a fragile economy: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have won a landslide victory in weekend elections but the strong yen is threatening to spoil the party as it undermines his economic stimulus policies by hurting the earnings of the nation’s exporters and companies who have big overseas operations. — Reuters
Kim Dotcom to revive Megaupload: Internet mogul Kim Dotcom has announced plans to relaunch his Megaupload empire in 2017, exactly five years after US authorities shut it down over allegations of massive copyright piracy. — AFP
IBM to open first blockchain innovation centre in Singapore: IBM plans to open a blockchain innovation centre in Singapore in collaboration with the government, as the city-state strives to become Asia’s main financial technology hub. The tech giant will be working with the main economic planning agency, the Singapore Economic Development Board, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to accelerate blockchain adoption for finance and trade. — Reuters
Singapore Q2 economic growth seen sluggish, keeps central bank pressured: Singapore’s gross domestic product is forecast to have expanded 0.9% in April-June from the first quarter on annualised and seasonally adjusted basis, the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 15 economist showed. And the combination of a strong currency and free-falling consumer prices could force the central bank to ease monetary policy further. — Reuters
Chinese logistics firm ZTO Express files for up to US$2b IPO in US: Chinese logistics firm ZTO Express Co has submitted a filing in New York seeking clearance for an initial public offering aiming to raise between US$1 billion and US$2 billion, IFR reported on Tuesday, citing people close to the deal. — Reuters
Top local stories
Ireka, Aeon call off plan to build RM203m Senawang shopping centre: Ireka Corporation Bhd
and Aeon Co (M) Bhd have called off their plan to build a shopping centre in Senawang, Seremban. The construction company said on Tuesday that conditions under the agreements could not be fulfilled within the period and the renewed period of 18 months since it was signed on Dec 26, 2014. — StarBiz
May industrial output expands at slower pace: Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) in May rose at slower pace of 2.7% from year ago but beat expectations for a 2.5% growth. The Statistics Department said on Tuesday the growth was slower than April’s on-year growth of 3% due to the decline in the mining output by 1.1% — StarBiz
InvestKL draws 10 MNCs, with RM788mil investments realised in 2015: InvestKL says 10 multinational corporations (MNCs) invested RM788mil in Kuala Lumpury in 2015. In its Performance Report 2015, InvestKL said the ten MNCs also created 672 high skilled regional jobs. — StarBiz
Global air passenger traffic to grow 4.5% a year in next 20 years: Global air passenger traffic is expected to grow at an average 4.5% a year in the next 20 years, according to Airbus’ Global Market Forecast. “This will drive the need for over 33,000 new aircraft... worth US$5.2 trillion,” it said. — Bernama
May manufacturing sales value at RM51.8b: The sales value of the manufacturing sector in May increased by 2% to RM51.8 bliion from RM50.8 billion a year ago. Salaries and wages paid during the month increased 4.1% to RM3.058 billion. Productivity increased by 2.3% to record RM50,578. — StarBiz
Global PC shipments down 5.2% in Q2: Global shipments of PCs totalled 64.3 million units in the second quarter of 2016, down 5.2% from a year earlier. This was the seventh consecutive quarter of PC shipment declines, but Gartner analysts said the market is showing some signs of improvement. — StarBiz
Win a prize this Mother's Day by subscribing to our annual plan now! T&C applies.
