MarketWrap: US stocks rose slightly on Tuesday, nudging the Nasdaq to a record high close, as economic data bolstered views the Federal Reserve may decide against raising interest rates in the near term.
The DJIA closed up 46.16 points, or 0.25%, to 18,538.12, the S&P 500 gained 6.5 points, or 0.3%, to 2,186.48 and the Nasdaq ended up 26.01 points, or 0.5%, at 5,275.91, a record high.
Forex summary
*The ringgit gained 0.55% to 4.0590 per US$
*It was 0.19% lower at 4.5653 per euro
*Down 0.01% to 5.4456 to the pound sterling
*Down 0.22% to 3.0141 per Singapore dollar
*0.21% higher to 3.1028 per Aussie
*Up 0.02% to 3.9997 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices inched lower on Wednesday as market participants remained sceptical that producers will reach an agreement to freeze output to rein in a global supply glut. London Brent crude for November delivery was down 4 cents at US$47.22 a barrel by 2018 EST, after settling down 37 cents on Tuesday. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
LG Electronics seeks mobile spark from new V20 smartphone: South Korea's LG Electronics Inc, reeling from continued losses from its smartphone business, unveiled its new V20 premium smartphone on Wednesday, hoping for a pick-up in the second half. LG did not disclose pricing. - Reuters
British finance minister to meet bank bosses on Brexit gameplan: Top British bankers will tell finance minister Philip Hammond on Wednesday to give them a clearer idea of what the country's divorce from the European Union will mean for them when they hold their first meeting since the Brexit vote. - Reuters
Allergan vows limited price hikes, says 'outliers' deter research: The chief executive officer of Allergan Plc Brent Saunders said his company would limit annual price increases on its prescription drugs, and that "outlier" drugmakers that have imposed huge price increases on their products were scaring off venture capital investors. - Reuters
Enbridge buying Spectra in US$28b deal: Canada's Enbridge Inc said on Tuesday it would buy Spectra Energy Corp of Houston in an all-stock deal valued at about US$28 billion (C$37 billion) to create the largest North American energy infrastructure company. - Reuters
US services sector activity hits a six and a half-year low: US services sector activity slowed to a 6-1/2-year low in August amid sharp drops in production and orders, pointing to slowing economic growth that further diminished prospects for an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this month. - Reuters
Brookfield-led group to buy US$5.2b Petrobras unit: Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA agreed to sell 90% of its natural gas pipeline unit to a group of investors led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc for US$5.2 billion, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday. - Reuters
Top local stories
TNB inks deal with SIPP Energy: After two years of uncertainty and negotiations, SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd has finally received the go-ahead from the Government to build a 1,440-MW power plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor. The company on Tuesday inked a 21-year power purchase agreement with Tenaga Nasional Bhd
. - StarBiz
Petronas sees Pengerang complex starting in 2019: Petronas is on track to get its US$27bil refining and petrochemical complex in Johor up and running in 2019, says said Md Arif Mahmood, Petronas downstream CEO and group executive vice-president. Petronas has earmarked heavy spending cuts to contend with low oil prices that have sent profit tumbling, but the company remains committed to the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project it aims to turn into a regional oil and gas hub by 2035. - Reuters
Ho Wah Genting proposes private placement of 95 million shares: Ho Wah Genting Bhd has proposed a private placement of up to 94.69 million new shares to independent third-party investors to raise funds for the purchase of copper rods for its wires and cables business. The price of the placement shares has yet to be fixed. - StarBiz
CIMB gets licence for banking ops in Vietnam: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd has been granted an operating licence to start a banking business in Vietnam. The lender said its subsidiary CIMB Bank Bhd received the licence to set up and operate a 100%-owned subsidiary in Vietnam from the State Bank of Vietnam on Tuesday. - StarBiz
Sunway to jointly develop land in Singapore: Sunway Bhd will work with its joint-venture partners to develop leasehold land measuring 21,014 sq m in Singapore into “executive condominiums”. It said Sunway Developments Pte Ltd and Hoi Hup Realty Pte Ltd had won a tender to buy a 99-year leasehold land at Anchorvale Lane in Singapore for S$240.95mil (RM724.14mil). - StarBiz
New Sime shares to be issued at 5% discount: Sime Darby Bhd announced that the issue price of its upcoming placement of up to 316.35 million shares would be fixed at not more than 5% of the average weighted price for its shares during the five market days immediately preceding the price fixing date. - StarBiz
BAT shareholders give nod for PJ land sale: Shareholders of British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT) approved disposal of two parcels of land that its factory sits on in Petaling Jaya to LGB Properties (M) Sdn Bhd for RM218mil. Some shareholders though remained leery on its plans and outlook. - StarBiz
Salim named Property Icon of the Year: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) group managing director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din has been named Property Icon of the Year at the Pangkor Dialogue Awards 2016. - StarBiz
Palm oil inventories seen at lowest since early 2011: Malaysian palm oil inventories likely dropped in August to a more than five-year low as a strong surge in exports outpaced a smaller growth in output. Falling stockpiles could buoy benchmark prices of crud palm oil, which are currently near a three-week high of RM2,662 per tonne amid near-term supply worries and firm demand. - Reuters
Air cargo demand strengthens in July: Demand for global air cargo grew in July, with freight tonne kilometres up 5%, the fastest pace in almost 18 months. International Air Transport Association (IATA) said available freight tonne kilometres rose by 5.2% year-on-year, outstripping demand and keeping yields under pressure. - Bernama
Bank Negara reserves at RM392bil: Bank Negara’s international reserves was flat at RM391.9bil (equivalent to US$97.5bil) as of Aug 30. - Bernama
Margma sees higher rubber glove sales in H2: The rubber glove industry is expected to achieve higher sales and could garner better margins in the second half of this year, said Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) president Denis Low. For the first half, the industry recorded RM6.4bil in export revenue. - StarBiz
August vehicle sales likely still lower: Automotive sales in August are said to have rebounded from July’s sharp slump, but will likely still be about 2% lower than the same month last year despite the launch of Bezza and Persona by Proton Holdings Bhd, according to industry estimates. - Edge FD
China’s BUCG taken off RM6.3b job: Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd, tasked with building a RM6.3 billion mega project in Penang, is looking for a new partner to join the Malaysia-China joint venture company following the abrupt removal of Chinese state-run firm Beijing Urban Construction Group Co Ltd (BUCG). - Edge FD
Murphy, Petronas, Sierra plan deepwater oil bid: Murphy Oil Corp, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petro- nas) and Sierra Oil & Gas are in talks to form a group that would bid jointly for the first opportunity in more than seven decades to independently operate o shore fields in Mexico’s deep Gulf wa- ters, a person with direct knowledge of the plan said. - Bloomberg
Events calendar
* Bank Negara to announce decision on interest rates
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