Energy
Brent crude was 0.37% lower to US$56.73 per barrel at 3.35pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.22% to 4.2130 versus the US dollar at 3.45pm.
Top foreign stories
Evergrande property magnate seizes top spot on China rich list: Xu Jiayin, the chairman of developer China Evergrande Group, is China’s new richest man - beating out more familiar faces such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Jack Ma and rival property magnate Wang Jianlin of Dalian Wanda Group. Xu is reported to be worth US$43 billion wealth, the Hurun Report said. — Reuters
Lotte says has several suitors for China supermarkets, seeks sale by year-end: South Korea’s embattled Lotte Group said on Thursday several firms have expressed interest in acquiring its Lotte Mart stores in China and that is aiming for a sale by the end of this year. The country’s No. 5 conglomerate decided to bow out of the business after most of its hypermarkets and supermarkets in China were shut down amid political tensions between the two nations. — Reuters
Toyota plans to halve Japan car models by 2025: Toyota Motor Corp is planning to halve the number of car models it sells in Japan to about 30 by 2025 to focus on more popular models in a shrinking market, a person briefed on the matter said on Thursday. The automaker currently offers about 62 car models in Japan. — Reuters
Australia hotel giant Mantra rolls out the carpet for Accor’s US$920m bid: Australian No. 2 hotel company Mantra Group Ltd agreed on Thursday to a A$1.18 billion (US$920 million) buyout from larger Accor SA, a deal which would join the country’s top two hotel groups at a time when tourism is rising sharply. The deal would give the combined group about 50,000 rooms or about 11% of Australia’s hotel market, according to IBISWorld statistics. — Reuters
Oil drops on rising US crude inventories, Opec seen to extend cuts: Oil prices eased on Thursday as US fuel inventories rose despite efforts by Opec to cut production and tighten the market. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at US$50.98 per barrel at 0647 GMT, down 32 cents, or 0.6%, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures were at US$56.58, down 36 cents, or 0.6%, from the previous close. — Reuters
Britain’s Booker sees Tesco deal closing in early 2018: British wholesaler Booker said on Thursday it expected its 3.7 billion pound (US$4.9 billion) takeover by Tesco to complete early next year, as it reported a 9% rise in first-half profit. — Reuters
Top local stories
Homes just aren’t that affordable, Bank Negara tells Malaysians: Malaysia’s central bank has a response to those saying it needs to do more to spur home loans: houses simply aren’t affordable. Bank Negara has created a website packed with data aimed at debunking the “myth” that access to financing was deterring home ownership, showing that loan approvals for key cities are near 70% higher. The central bank has resisted calls to loosen mortgage lending, instead saying the property industry should boost efforts to cut costs and accelerate supply. — Bloomberg
Petronas’ Canadian unit to look at other LNG opportunities: Progress Energy, a wholly-owned unit of Petronas, will look at other liquefied natural gas opportunities as a way to monetise its Canadian gas assets after Petronas scrapped a US$29 billion LNG project this year, a company executive said. Progress said it planned to make money out of its huge natural gas operations in Montney, but gave few details of how it would do that. — Reuters
Ringgit an unseen gem about to be uncovered: The ringgit has been a brilliant under-the-radar story of 2017, and the gains have further to go. Since January, when USD/MYR traded at the highest level since the Asia crisis in 1998, the pair has been in a beautiful decline. — Bloomberg
Ministry and TNB launch home energy efficiency programme: The Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) have launched the Home Energy Report (HER), an energy efficiency programme aimed at engaging and empowering customers towards managing their home energy use, while reducing monthly electricity bills. — Bernama
August industrial output higher than expected: Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) expanded at 6.8% in August 2017, beating a Bloomberg poll for a 5.8% growth, supported by growth in manufacturing (7.6%), mining (5.3%) and electricity (3.0%) indices, the statistics department said. — StarBiz
RM180b revenue, 200,000 jobs targeted under Green Technology Master Plan: The Green Technology Master Plan (GTMP) is envisaged to generate RM180 billion in revenue and create more than 200,000 green jobs by 2030. The plan outlines Malaysia’s green technology strategy to create a resource-efficient, low-carbon footprint economy. — Bernama
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