International benchmark Brent crude futures managed to defend $40 per barrel in early trading on Tuesday, standing at $40.51 at 0154 GMT, down 33 cents from their last settlement. On Monday, the contract had surged over 5.5 percent in intra-day trading and remains 50 percent above 2016 lows from Jan. 20
Energy
Brent crude was 0.61% higher to US$62.45 per barrel at 2.33pm.
Forex
Ringgit down 0.07% to 4.2395 versus the US dollar at 2.43pm.
Top foreign stories
Oil hits highest levels since 2015 amid tightening markets, Saudi purge: Oil prices hit their highest levels since July 2015 early on Monday as markets tightened, while Saudi Arabia’s crown prince cemented his power over the weekend through an anti-corruption crackdown that included high profile arrests. Brent futures hit US$62.44 per barrel early on Monday, their highest level since July 2015, and after a dip regained that level by 0625 GMT. — Reuters
Rebuffed by American Airlines, Qatar Airways buys into Cathay Pacific: Qatar Airways said on Monday it had broadened its global reach with the acquisition of a 9.61% stake in Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, complicating the Hong Kong carrier’s share registry and sparking a sharp fall in its share price. Hong Kong’s Kingboard Chemical Holdings said it had sold the stake to Qatar Airways for HK$5.16 billion (US$661 million), making the Middle Eastern carrier the third-largest shareholder in Cathay. — Reuters
DBS Q3 profit in surprise slide to 5-year low on oil and gas provisions: DBS Group Holdings booked an unexpected slide in profit on Monday, with income falling 23% to a five-year low of S$822 million in the three months ended September, below an average estimate of S$1.13 billion. Net provisions for Singapore’s biggest lender jumped 87% to a record S$815 million (US$597 million) - a move it said would remove uncertainty over its exposure to the oil and gas services sector. — Reuters
BoJ’s Kuroda says has confidence in strengthening economy, price outlook: Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday that economic growth is gathering momentum and increasing the chances of inflation hitting his 2% target, reinforcing market expectations that no additional stimulus is forthcoming. — Reuters
Kobe Steel executives to decide whether to resign after external probe: Kobe Steel executives, including president Hiroya Kawasaki, will decide whether to resign to take responsibility for a cheating scandal after receiving a report from independent investigators, sources said. The company is also planning to release an internal report on the falsification of product specifications around Friday, said one of the sources, — Reuters
Top local stories
SC to liberalise bond trading rules: The Securities Commission (SC) will liberalise its rules to enable greater retail access to the corporate bond and sukuk market in Malaysia by the first quarter of 2018, said chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh. He said the primary market issuance processes and disclosure requirements will be reviewed and the range of corporate bonds and sukuk offered to retail investors expanded. — StarBiz
PNB taking opportunistic approach in determining overseas investments: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) is taking an opportunistic approach in determining the direction of its international investments to ensure depositors get high returns. Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar said the group is studying the right market, including the United States, Europe, Asean and North Asia, as well as right timing to grow its international investments, which are relatively low currently. — Bernama
Government to set up RM50m fund for SMEs: The Government will set up a RM50mil co-investment fund from existing grants to be invested in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) together with private investors through equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer platforms. Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the Securities Commission would help set up the fund, including deciding on the co-investment criteria for equity and debt financing. — Bernama
Eastland proposes rights issue to fund RM23m land buy: Eastland Equity Bhd has proposed a six-for-five renounceable rights issue of up to 294.8 million shares with up to 147.4 million free detachable warrants to fund the purchase of a land in Kota Kinabalu for RM23.26mil. The rights issue has an indicative price of 13.5 sen per share. — StarBiz
Eversendai secures Saudi Aramco offshore fabrication project: Eversendai Corp Bhd unit Eversendai Offshore RMC FZE in the United Arab Emirates has secured a major offshore fabrication project from Saudi Aramco. The group also announced RM180mil in new project wins, including 13 gantry structures project in Doha, a mixed-use development project, also in Doha, a bank headquarters building in Dubai and jackets for Saipem in Saudi Arabia. — StarBiz
Naim Indah posts Q3 loss of RM1.96m: Naim Indah Corp Bhd posted a net loss of RM1.96mil for the third quarter compared with a net profit of RM30.53mil in the year-ago quarter, when benefited from a fair value gain from investment property of RM31.55mil. Revenue shrank to RM429,000 from RM2.83mil previously. — StarBiz
AirAsia X launches direct KL-Jaipur flights: AirAsia X
will launch direct services from Kuala Lumpur to Jaipur, India, with four weekly flights effective Feb 5, 2018. The carreir is offering promotional all-in fares from as low as RM229 for economy seat and RM699 one-way for Premium flatbed seats for travel between Feb 5 and Nov 21, 2018. — StarBiz
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
