Ready to go?: Ma and Najib are expected to announce the plans at an event in Kuala Lumpur.
MarketWrap: US stocks rallied on Monday, tracking a relief rally that swept through Asian and European markets, after centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election. The DJIA rose 216.13 points, or 1.05%, to 20,763.89, the S&P 500 gained 25.46 points, or 1.08%, to 2,374.15 and the Nasdaq added 73.30 points, or 1.24%, to 5,983.82. - Reuters
Energy
Oil prices slipped nearly 1% on Monday, extending last week's decline, on lack of confirmation that Opec will extend output cuts until the end of 2017 and as Russia indicated it can lift output if the deal on curbs lapses. Brent crude futures ended the session 36 cents lower at US$51.60 per barrel after hitting a session high of US$52.57 a barrel. - Reuters
Forex summary
*The ringgit was at 4.3865 versus the US$
*It gained 0.31% to 4.7619 versus euro
*Up 0.63% to 5.6060 per pound sterling
*Up 0.29% to 3.1477 per Singapore dollar
*Up 0.46% to 3.3149 per Aussie
*0.56% higher to 3.9855 per 100 yen
Top foreign stories
Jack Ma sees decades of pain as Internet upends older economy: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd chairman Jack Ma said society should prepare for decades of pain as the Internet disrupts the economy. The world must change education systems and establish how to work with robots to help soften the blow caused by automation and the Internet economy, he says. - Bloomberg
PPG raises offer for Akzo Nobel to US$29b: US paint maker PPG Industries raised its proposed offer for Akzo Nobel by about 8% to 26.9 billion euros (US$28.8 billion) on Monday, increasing the pressure on its Dutch rival to enter into talks. - Reuters
Number of US bank branches to shrink 20% in five years: The number of bank branches in the United States will shrink by as much as 20% in five years, according to a report from commercial real estate firm JLL. The US banking industry could save as much as US$8.3 billion annually if it trimmed the number of branches and downsized the average bank branch from 5,000 to 3,000 square feet, JLL found. - Reuters
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
