The corporate logo of financial firm Morgan Stanley is pictured on the company's world headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar
MarketWatch: US bank stocks will stay in favour with investors as long as earnings reports in the coming week show an improving profit outlook while investors wait to see if US President-elect Donald Trump lives up to his campaign promises. - Reuters
Energy
Global oil prices will witness "much more volatility" in 2017 even though markets may rebalance in the first half of the year if output cuts pledged by producers are implemented, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Sunday. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Morgan Stanley cuts bankers, bonuses as deals, IPOs stall: Morgan Stanley laid off a number of senior investment bankers last week and cut bonuses by roughly 15% because of a decline in revenue from dealmaking and capital raising across Wall Street, sources said. - Reuters
Yellen upbeat about short-term economic outlook: The US economy is doing well and faces no serious obstacles in the short term, with the labour market looking pretty strong, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday. - Reuters
Cathay plans job cuts, fewer flights: Cathay Pacific Airways is expected to announce job cuts, cost reductions and to shift flights to its short-haul arm when it unveils the results of a key review this week, as it grapples with growing competition from Chinese carriers. - Reuters
Singapore to prop up SEA’s muted IPO market in 2017: Singapore is set to be 2017's hottest spot for initial public offerings (IPOs) in South-East Asia with sales of stakes in business and real estate trusts, while currency volatility and weak investor sentiment curb deals elsewhere in the region. - Reuters
Top local stories
TDM demerger plan: Terengganu state-owned listed entity TDM Bhd plans to demerge its healthcare business and list it as part of a strategy to unlock value and to turn TDM into a pure plantation player in the next three to five years. - StarBiz
Firefly and Malindo take different tack: While Firefly is cutting its fleet size and reducing domestic capacity by 40% as part of a restructuring exercise, its rival Malindo Air is increasing the number of planes from its operations in Subang. Firefly will cut its fleet of turbo-prop planes to 12 from 18, while Malindo will add two more ATRs, taking its number of aircraft in operation to 16.
Khazanah: MAS operationally profitable: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is operationally profitable and would return to the black by the end of 2018, says Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar. “The airline is now able to rely on its own cashflow to operate and is expected to break even this year,” he said. - StarBiz
Khazanah eyes further investments in tech sector: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has set its sights on in- creasing its portfolio investment in the technology sector, which made up 4% of its portfolio in 2016. - Edge FD
IHH confident of battling Turkish lira volatility: IHH Healthcare Bhd is likely to be able to escape the volatility of the Turkish lira against the US dollar as it has a huge base of US dollar reserves. It said it has natural hedging systems in place to counter any volatility and keep its business stable from foreign exchange factors. - StarBiz
AHP completes acquisition of Mydin Mall Seremban 2: Amanah Harta Tanah PNB (AHP) said it completed the acquisition of Mydin Mall Seremban 2 for RM240mil through a sale and leaseback arrangement. - StarBiz
Gold jewellery exports to drop 10%: The Penang Goldsmith Association is projecting the value of Malaysia’s gold jewellery exports to hit about RM7bil in 2016, lower by about 10% from RM7.77bil in 2015. - StarBiz
HSL to launch property projects worth RM160m: Hock Seng Lee Bhd (HSL) will launch several residential and industrial property projects in Kuching and Samarahan divisions with combined gross development value of some RM160mil. - StarBiz
IWCITY unveils plans for newly acquired land: Property developer Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCITY) plans to undertake a mixed development project on its newly acquired land within Sungai Danga vicinity in Iskandar Malaysia, says chief executive officer Calvin Wong. - StarBiz
MIDF to manage new Bioeconomy fund: Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) has been appointed a strategic partner by Bioeconomy Corp to manage the newly launched Biotechnology Commercialisation Fund, a hybrid scheme of grant and soft loan amounting to RM100mil. - StarBiz
Malaysia open to talks with Indonesia on CPO export duties: Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong says a meeting has been scheduled between Malaysian and Indonesian parties to discuss crude palm oil (CPO) export duties structure in early 2017. - StarBiz
Govt seeks to ease companies’ burden: The government has agreed to review measures to ease the burden of companies regarding the open approved import permits, especially the fee of RM10,000, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. - Bernama
Corporate earnings growth amid margin compression: Corporate Malaysia is expected to see earnings growth in 2017, but at the expense of net profit margin as a result of rising production costs, an expected decline in consumption and a weak ringgit against the US dollar. - Edge FD
Homeritz
eyes double-digit revenue growth for FY17: Homeritz Corp Bhd founder and managing director Chua Fen Fatt is optimistic about FY17 and said the company targets to achieve a double-digit growth in revenue for the financial year ending Aug 31, 2017. - Edge FD
VisDynamics still open to offers: Visdynamics Holdings Bhd is still open to takeover offers to establish a more sustainable earnings stream. “There are parties (local and overseas) constantly talking to us, but there isn’t a suitable candidate yet,” says chief executive officer Choy Ngee Hoe. - Edge FD
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