- AFP pic
Energy
Brent crude was 0.23% lower to US$47.26 per barrel at 3.35pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.07% to 4.2730 versus the US dollar at 3.41pm.
Top foreign stories
Japan’s May exports rise fastest in over 2 years, set to sustain growth: Japan’s exports surged in May by the fastest in more than two years on higher shipments of cars and steel, an encouraging sign that robust global demand will help keep the country’s modest economic recovery on track. The 14.9% annual increase in exports in May was the biggest rise since January 2015 and nearly twice the pace seen in April. — Reuters
Noble shares gain some ground after credit facility extended: Shares in Singapore-listed commodity trader Noble Group had some respite on Monday, climbing 9% after a source said its creditors have agreed to push back a key repayment deadline by four months. The firm has been in negotiations with banks over a US$2 billion credit facility, which is due to be rolled over by the end of this week. — Reuters
Britain, EU to start historic Brexit talks: Britain starts formal talks to leave the EU on Monday, seeking a deal “like no other in history” despite entering fiendishly difficult negotiations with a badly weakened government. A year after Britain’s seismic referendum, Brexit minister David Davis and the European Union’s French chief negotiator Michel Barnier will meet at the European Commission in Brussels. — AFP
Head of major Taiwan bank held over ‘illegal loans’: SinoPac Holdings chairman Ho Shou-chuan has been detained, and along with two others, is being probed over an alleged Tw$5 billion (US$164.8 million) of loans made to an “offshore company with no real operations”, just months after another banking scandal rocked the island’s financial sector. — AFP
IMF says Japan needs to stick with fiscal, monetary stimulus: The International Monetary Fund urged Japan to avoid withdrawing fiscal policy stimulus and said monetary policy should be loosened further if risks to the economy materialise, warning of weak consumption that remains vulnerable to external shocks. — Reuters
Top local stories
Govt confirms Sulaiman to head FGV, Isa to lead SPAD: The Government has confirmed that Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob will be acting chairman of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) with immediate effect while Tan Sri Isa Samad will be acting chairman of Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD). Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak also said there were “sufficient facts and reasonable grounds warranting the FGV Board to initiate disciplinary proceedings against its CEO (Datuk Zakaria Arshad), CFO (Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha) and two other senior management officials in relation to alleged breach of procedures in Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd (DOP), a subsidiary of FGV”. — StarBiz
Maxis to raise up to RM1.7b from share placement: Maxis Bhd could raise up to RM1.72bil from its proposed placement of 300 million shares at prices ranging from RM5.52 and RM5.75 each. Bloomberg reported on Monday the price for the share placement was 2.2% to 6.1% below the last closing price of RM5.88. — StarBiz
Advancecon listing to raise RM56.7m: Advancecon Holdings Bhd, en route to a listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on July 10, will raise gross proceeds of RM56.7mil from its initial public offering (IPO), priced at 63 sen per share. The earthworks and civil engineering services specialist is issuing 90 million new shares or 22.4% of its enlarged share capital, its prospectus shows. — StarBiz
StanChart Research expects May headline inflation to ease: Standard Chartered research expects Malaysia’s headline inflation to ease slightly to 3.9% in May this year, from 4.4% in April. The statistics department will release the May CPI data on June 21. - Bernama
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