Passersby walk in front of the main branch of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, in this January 8, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
MarketWrap: US stocks declined on Monday for their worst performance in nearly a month, weighed down by a pullback in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors as some investors booked profits on the heels of a record-setting week. - Reuters
The DJIA fell 54.24 points, or 0.28%, to 19,097.9, the S&P 500 lost 11.63 points, or 0.53%, to 2,201.72 and the Nasdaq dropped 30.11 points, or 0.56%, to 5,368.81.
Forex summary
*The ringgit was flat at 4.4640 per US$
*It was 0.46% higher at 4.7373 per euro
*Up 0.75% to 5.5358 per pound sterling
*Down 0.06% to 3.1349 per Singapore dollar
*0.16% lower to 3.3447 per Aussie
*Up 0.03% to 3.9868 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices gained more than 2% on Monday in volatile trading after falling as much as 2%, recouping losses as the market reacted to the shaky prospect of major producers being able to agree output cuts at a meeting on Wednesday. Brent crude rose US$1.00, or 2.12%, to US$48.24 a barrel. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
StanChart to cut 10% of corporate, institutional global banking staff: Standard Chartered is set to cut about a tenth of its global corporate and institutional banking headcount, sources said, as the bank steps up an aggressive drive to cut costs. The job cuts will be rolled out beginning this week across all the major business centres starting with Singapore and Hong Kong, one of the sources said. - Reuters
Meitu's HK IPO to value China photo app maker at up to US$4.5b: Chinese photo app and mobile phone maker Meitu Inc is set to launch an up to US$735 million IPO in Hong Kong that would value it at as much as US$4.5 billion, IFR reported, making it among the 10 largest tech companies listed in the city. - Reuters
Maersk, DONG Energy in talks over US$10b oil merger: Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk and DONG Energy are in talks to merge their oil and gas operations in a deal that would create a business worth more than US$10 billion including debt, sources familiar with the matter said. - Reuters
Samsung Elec says reviewing shift to holding company structure: Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it will consider whether to transition to a holding company structure, a move long expected as the next succession step for the founding Lee family's heirs. - Reuters
Top local stories
Opec heat on O&G stocks: Oil and gas (O&G) counters retreated on Monday ahead of a key meeting by members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to deliberate on the production of oil, something which would have long-term implications on crude oil prices. As at 5pm, a slew of companies, most of which are predominantly in the upstream segment, fell in line with the broader market which was mostly negative. - StarBiz
General offer for The Store: Almost three weeks after Tan Sri Vincent Tan and the Berjaya Group exited The Store Corp Bhd, the major shareholders have launched a takeover of the company that operates a retail chain. Tan Sri Tang Yeam Soon and his wife Puan Sri Khor Guik Lee said they had acquired a further 13.88% stake in the company, hence triggering a mandatory general offer. - StarBiz
Bank Negara monitoring speculative activities on ringgit: Bank Negara is continuously monitoring speculative activities on the ringgit within Malaysia that can harm the country’s financial market, says governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim. - Bernama
IOI Properties
, Gamuda and IJM likely to be included in FBM KLCI: IOI Properties Group Bhd, Gamuda Bhd and IJM Corp Bhd are likely to be new entrants to the 30-stock FBM KLCI, market players speculate. They say SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd and YTL Corp Bhd are likely to slip out of the FBM KLCI. - StarBiz
Report: Fintech likely to disrupt fund transfers: More than four-fifths of local financial institutions see financial technology (fintech) as a threat to their business. A report said areas in traditional
financial services that are most likely to be disrupted by the emergence of fintech include fund transfers and payments, consumer banking as well as general insurance. - StarBiz
Flat Q2 for IJM Corp: IJM Corp Bhd reported earnings of RM163.89mil, compared with RM156.38mil a year ago, as gains from its construction and plantation units were offset by slower growth in the property segment. Operating revenue rose 11% to RM1.48bil from RM1.33bil previously. It declared an interim dividend of three sen a share. - StarBiz
TM seen benefiting from media convergence products: Increasing product convergence propositions, such as internet protocol television, over-the-top applications and mobile service provider webe could translate into greater earnings and subscriber quality for Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) over the long run, says RHB Research. - StarBiz
Bank Negara appoints 3 new members to committee: Bank Negara announced the appointment of three members to the financial stability executive committee. - StarBiz
Matang likely to list early 2017: Plantation company Matang Bhd is scheduled to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia in the first quarter of 2017, with an estimated RM13mil to be raised from its initial public offering. - StarBiz
Astaka signs RM308m deal: Astaka Holdings Ltd announced it has signed a RM308 million (S$98.4 million) an agreement with the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB). Under the deal, Astaka unit Astaka Padu Sdn Bhd will construct, develop and sell to MBJB a 15-storey Grade A office tower called Menara MBJB, which will house MBJB’s headquarters. - Edge FD
Multi-Usage suspends two directors for two months: Multi-Usage Holdings Bhd has suspended two of its directors, Gerald Mak Mun Keong and Tan Chew Hua, for two months. The group said it is suspending Mak to investigate his independence, while Tan is suspended for the investigation into the matters highlighted in the qualified auditors’ report and the special audit report. - Edge FD
TRC Synergy gets termination notice for RM74m MRT Line 2 job: TRC Synergy Bhd said it has received a notice of termination from MMC Gamuda KVMRT Sdn Bhd of a RM74 million contract for works related to the new Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya mass rapid transit line (MRT Line 2). - Edge FD
Karex expects Europe sales to double in FY17: Condom maker Karex Bhd expects revenue con- tribution from the Europe market to double in the current year ending June 30, 2017, thanks to its newly acquired UK subsidiary, Pasante Healthcare Ltd. - Edge FD
UMW O&G posts fourth straight quarterly loss in Q3: UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd (UMW O&G) posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss in the third quarter, reporting a net loss of RM135.43 million, from a net profit of RM218,000 a year earlier. Revenue was 77% lower at RM49.65 million, due to the idling of most of its assets under the drill- ing services segment. - Edge FD
Tan Chong Motor posts losses for third consecutive quarter: Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd posted its third straight quarterly loss in the third quarter, with a net loss of RM4.5 million compared with a net profit of RM29.18 million a year ago, mainly impacted by foreign exchange rates and the weaker ringgit. Revenue grew 2.19% to RM1.4 billion. - Edge FD
TPC Plus exits PN17: Egg producer TPC Plus Bhd will be uplifted from being classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company from Tuesday. - Edge FD
Carlsberg Q3 net profit falls 30%: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd saw its net profit fall 30.2% to RM43.61 million in the third quarter on higher operating expenses, loss of sales and writedown of assets from associate Lion Brewery (Ceylon) Ltd, Sri Lanka. Revenue fell 3% to RM393.31 million. - Edge FD
Scomi Group sees another quarter in the red as revenue sinks: Scomi Group Bhd posted its second consecutive quarter in the red with a net loss of RM21.2 million, as revenue almost halved to RM176.05 million on-year on lower contribution from its oilfield services, transport solutions and marine services segments. Revenue for the second quarter fell from RM337.76 million a year ago. - Edge FD
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