Toshiba shareholders agreed to split off its NAND flash memory business.
MarketWatch: The major Wall Street indexes hit record closing highs on Tuesday, with financial stocks leading the charge, but gains were stunted by a decline in Apple Inc shares after it unveiled its latest line of iPhones. The DJIA rose 61.49 points, or 0.28%, to 22,118.86, the S&P 500 gained 8.37 points, or 0.34%, to 2,496.48 and the Nasdaq added 22.018 points, or 0.34%, to 6,454.28. - Reuters
Energy
Oil prices were mixed early on Wednesday, but largely held on to gains in the previous session after Opec said it expected higher demand for its crude next year. US crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, according to an industry report. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 7 cents, or 0.1%, at US$54.20 a barrel, having settled up 0.8% in the previous session. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Cryptocurrency chaos as China cracks down on ICOs: China’s move last week to ban initial coin offerings (ICO) has caused chaos among start-ups looking to raise money through the novel fund-raising scheme, prompting halts, about-turns and re-thinks. - Reuters
Toshiba shares down after report says it favours Bain group for chip sale: Shares of Toshiba Corp fell more than 1% in early Wednesday trading after Reuters reported it now favours a group led by Bain Capital LP and SK Hynix Inc to buy its prized semiconductor business. In the latest twist in the US$18 billion sale process, Toshiba now hopes to reach agreement with the Bain group by next week, two people briefed on the matter said. - Reuters
Top local stories
IOI selling stake in IOI Loders Croklaan Group for RM3.9bil: IOI Corp Bhd
has agreed to sell a 70% controlling stake in IOI Loders Croklaan Group BV and its related businesses to US-listed Bunge Ltd for a total cash consideration of RM3.94bil. The proposed deal will see IOI Corp recording a gain on disposal of RM2.5bil. - StarBiz
EPF, UEM not selling stakes PLUS: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and UEM Group Bhd confirmed they have received a takeover offer from Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd for their stakes PLUS Malaysia Bhd, but reiterated they have no intention to sell their holdings. - StarBiz
Celcom to enhance network quality, consumer experience: Celcom Axiata Bhd will focus on enhancing its network quality and consumer experience in the second half of the year. CEO Michael Kuehner said the company would use its remaining capital expenditure allocation to invest in these two areas. - StarBiz
Higher rubber glove prices likely: Rubber glove prices may rise by as much as 9% to 12% within the next few days, mainly due to the after effects of Hurricane Irma. Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association said the devastation has push up the prices of butadiene, an important material in the production of nitrile latex, as its production has been severely affected. - StarBiz
Bids for KL-Singapore high-speed rail project still ‘wide open’: The proposed Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high- speed rail project is still “wide open” to all and both countries will choose the builder based on merits from tender expected to be opened in December. MyHSR Corp CEO Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal said it’s not true when some countries had claimed the project is already in the bag. - Bloomberg
New accounting standard more likely to affect banks' balance sheet: AmBank Research said the impact of new accounting standard MFRS 9 will be greater on banks’ balance sheet, rather than their earnings, because any increase in impairment losses provision will be charged to retained earnings.
Willowglen gets takeover offer: Willowglen MSC Bhd has received a 80 sen per share cash mandatory takeover offer from New Advent Sdn Bhd. The offer price is 40% below Monday’s closing price of RM1.34. - StarBiz
Ikea to introduce online shopping in Malaysia by next year: Ikea plans to introduce online shopping for its Malaysian customers next year after making the service available for Singaporeans in two weeks. - StarBiz
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