Latest victim: Hilton said that it is investigating the breach with the help of third-party forensics experts, law enforcement and payment card companies.
MarketWrap: US stocks closed higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 hitting a two-week high on the back of strong earnings and a flurry of deal activity, while the US dollar hovered near a nine-month peak against other world currencies. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 77.32 points, or 0.43%, to 18,223.03, the S&P 500 gained 10.17 points, or 0.47%, to 2,151.33 and the Nasdaq added 52.43 points, or 1%, to 5,309.83.
Forex summary
*The ringgit lost 0.13% to 4.1788 per US$
*It was 0.03% higher at 4.5441 per euro
*Up 0.02% to 5.1063 per pound sterling
*Down 0.01% to 2.9993 per Singapore dollar
*0.24% higher to 3.1787 per Aussie
*Up 0.06% to 4.0031 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices dipped on Monday, with US crude briefly falling below US$50 per barrel, on news of the impending restart of Britain's Buzzard oilfield and Iraq's wish to be exempted from Opec production cuts. Brent settled down 32 cents, or 0.6%, at US$51.46 a barrel. Its session low was US$50.50. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
AT&T investors weigh new growth, risks with Time Warner deal: AT&T Inc shareholders who have profited for most of 2016 from owning a major telecommunications provider with a strong dividend yield are now tied to a controversial acquisition Time Warner that comes with new growth potential but also fresh risks. - Reuters
China's HNA to buy 25% stake in Hilton for US$6.5b: Chinese aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group said on Monday it would buy about 25% of hotel operator and manager Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc from biggest shareholder Blackstone Group LP for US$6.5 billion. HNA Group will buy the stake for US$26.25 per share, representing a premium of 14.6% to Hilton's closing price on Friday and valuing the hotel company at about US$26 billion. - Reuters
India’s Tata Sons dumps Cyrus Mistry as chairman: India’s Tata Sons dumped Cyrus Mistry as its chairman in a surprise announcement Monday, almost four years after his appointment as the first chief of the conglomerate from outside the Tata family. - AFP
Twitter plans to cut about 300 more jobs: Twitter Inc may cut 8% of its workforce or about 300 people, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter. The job cuts could be announced before the company reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday, and the number of jobs affected could change, Bloomberg said. - Reuters
Top local stories
TM to offer higher broadband speed at lower prices: Telekom Malaysia Bhd
(TM) will unveil more affordable packages in stages to make broadband services considerably cheaper within the next two years. The immediate beneficiaries will be existing UniFi customers who are entitled to a free higher speed upgrade for the same price. - StarBiz
Takeover bid for Huat Lai: The founding family of Huat Lai Resources Bhd has launched a takeover offer for the remaining shares it do not own in the company for RM5 apiece. The Lim family owns a 74.6% stake in the poultry company and would be forking out RM98.9mil for the remaining shares. - StarBiz
Maybank Indonesia doubles 9-month profit: PT Bank Maybank Indonesia Tbk saw its net profit more than double to 1.3 trillion rupiah (RM416.6mil) for the nine months to September 2016 from a year earlier, thanks to higher net interest and fee-based income, as well as growth in Islamic banking. - StarBiz
50% higher profit for Axis REIT: Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis REIT) posted a 50% jump in net profit to RM36.46mil in the third quarter on the back of rental proceeds from newly acquired properties and rental revision. Revenue rose to RM41.98mil from RM41.86mil a year ago. It declared a third interim income distribution of 2.05 sen a unit. - StarBiz
Malaysia’s foreign reserves at above RM400b: Bank Negara’s international reserves increased marginally to US$97.8bil as of Oct 14, from U$97.7bil as of Sept 30. In ringgit terms, the reserves were valued at RM405.6bil in mid-October, compared with RM405bil at end-September. - StarBiz
Ta Ann buys Agrogreen for RM211m: Ta Ann Holdings Bhd will acquire the entire equity interest in Agrogreen Ventures Sdn Bhd for RM211.14mil. The integrated timber player said the proposed deal is in line with the group’s plan to expand its oil palm plantation land bank in Sarawak. - Bernama
Ekovest unit bags RM255m contract: Ekovest Bhd unit EkoRiver Construction Sdn Bhd has received a letter of acceptance from Kuala Lumpur City Hall for the proposed improvement and beautification works worth RM255.49mil. - Bernama
Surge in I-Bhd Q3 profit: Property developer I-Bhd posted a strong set of financial results for its third quarter, as earnings surged 162% to RM22.42mil, underpinned by the i-City project. Revenue jumped 106% to RM113.58mil from RM55.22mil. - StarBiz
BCM Alliance declares dividend: BCM Alliance Bhd, which made its debut on the Ace Market of Bursa Malaysia Monday, has declared a first interim single-tier dividend of 0.4 sen per share. In its first trading day, the distributor of commercial laundry equipment and medical devices opened 8 sen higher at 27 sen, on a volume of 9.62 million shares. - StarBiz
BAT third-quarter profit down 17%: British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT) posted a profit attributable to shareholders of RM212.63mil for the third quarter, down 17% from a year earlier. Revenue fell 20% to RM932.9mil. - StarBiz
Bursa reports lower Q3 net profit: Bursa Malaysia Bhd reported a lower net profit of RM44.04mil for its third quarter on lower trading activity and a subsequent decrease in operating revenue.
Revenue came in at RM119.4mil compared with RM128.83mil a year earlier. No dividend was declared for the period. - StarBiz
Cold warehouse launched at PKT logistics hub in Shah Alam: PKT every24 Logistics Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between PKT Logistics Group and Japan’s Daisei every24 Co Ltd, has launched its first cold warehouse in Shah Alam. PKT will be tapping the logistics and distribution potential of the growing food and beverage industry in Malaysia with the warehouse. - StarBiz
Ibraco to launch maiden project in KL: Sarawak property developer Ibraco Bhd is set to launch its maiden mixed retail, commercial and residential project in a prime location in Kuala Lumpur in the next three months. Managing director Chew Chiaw Han said the project, with a gross development value of RM450mil, would be developed in a single phase. - StarBiz
Metronic Global seeks EGM to remove MNC Wireless directors: Metronic Global Bhd and one other shareholder of MNC Wireless Bhd have served a special notice to loss-making MNC Wireless to convene an EGM to seek shareholders’ approval to remove five directors. - Edge FD
SkyWorld plans RM900m launches this year: Skyworld Development Bhd, the developer behind the mega 11.33ha SkyArena mixed development in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, is unfazed by the softening property market and has several projects worth RM900 million in gross development value to be launched towards the end of this year. - Edge FD
Low foreign tide at Bursa: Foreign money tide was low on Bursa Malaysia in the week of Budget 2017, with investors classi ed as “foreign” having bought only RM211.1 million worth of stocks after selling off RM227.4 million the week prior, according to MIDF Research. - Edge FD
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