Energy
Brent crude was 0.41% lower to US$63.43 per barrel at 2.51pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.07% to 4.2265 versus the US dollar at 3.01pm.
Top foreign stories
China October exports growth slows as economy cools: China’s exports rose at a slower od pace 6.9% in October, but import’s growth of 17.2% beat forecasts in a sign domestic demand remained robust despite Beijing’s crackdown on pollution that analysts say will reduce factory output and crimp overall economic growth. — Reuters
Oil falls on lower Chinese crude imports; overall market well supported: Oil prices fell on Wednesday as Chinese crude imports slipped to their lowest level in a year, although traders said the overall market remains well supported on the back of Opec-led supply cuts. Brent futures were at US$63.38 per barrel at 0617 GMT, down 31 cents, or 0.5%, although still not far off a near two-and-a-half year high of US$64.65 a barrel reached earlier this week. — Reuters
Virgin Australia considers going private as profits return: Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday it was considering going private as it swung to profitability in the first quarter from a loss a year ago and forecast a continued improvement in the second and third quarter. Privatising the carrier would allow minority shareholders to cash out and could lead to less public scrutiny of its financial performance. — Reuters
Paramount’s US$1b China funding deal scrapped after Beijing’s scrutiny: Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures said a US$1 billion films-funding deal with China’s Huahua Media has been scrapped after the country tightened foreign investment policies, the latest Hollywood-China tie-up to unravel due to Beijing’s scrutiny. — Reuters
Qatari investor selling US$1.5b stake in Bharti Airtel: A Qatari investor is selling a 5% stake in top Indian telecoms carrier Bharti Airtel on Wednesday for about 95 billion rupees (US$1.46 billion), adding to the sanctions-hit Gulf nation’s recent stake sales in foreign companies. The sale comes at a time when other Qatari firms, including its sovereign wealth fund, are cutting stakes in foreign companies to raise cash and withstand pressure on the economy, which has been hit by sanctions imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt since early June. — Reuters
Shares in Tencent’s China Literature double in Hong Kong debut: Shares in China Literature Ltd doubled in their debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday, as the online publishing arm of Tencent Holdings Ltd benefited from a rising tide of local enthusiasm for tech stocks. China Literature’s shares rose to as much as HK$110 in early trade, versus its public offering price of HK$55 per share, giving the country’s biggest e-book firm a market value of nearly US$13 billion. — Reuters
Top local stories
Paragon Adventure stake in GBH rises to 73.1%: Paragon Adventure Sdn Bhd received acceptances of 41.20 million shares or 22.1% at the close of the unconditional mandatory takeover offer for Goh Ban Huat Bhd on Tuesday, raising its stake in the latter to 73.1%. — StarBiz
F&N to boost export sales to RM500m: Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) is on track to ramp up annual export sales to RM500mil by its financial year 2020, from RM300mil now, as it expects to boost its presence in halal markets. More than 30% of export volume growth of 26% in FY17 was from Africa and the Middle East, the company’s core halal markets. — StarBiz
Red Ideas plans to expand to Singapore and Australia: Red Ideas Holdings Bhd, a home-grown technology company which made its debut on the LEAP Market of Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, is looking to expand into Singapore and Australia. The developer of private community platform Graaab JaGaApp intends to capitalise on its first mover advantage. In its first-day trading, the stock opened at 40sen. — StarBiz
Fed rate hikes to weigh on Thailand and Malaysia, NAB says: Thailand and Malaysia are the riskiest emerging markets in Asia as the US Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates, while the Philippines, followed by India, are National Australia Bank’s (NAB) favourite markets. It said Malaysia has a quite weak foreign-exchange reserves position and that a lot of the rebound in growth in the first half was due to budget announcements at the end of 2016, which isn’t really sustainable because the nation is in “a bit of a bind” on the fiscal side. — Bloomberg
Tasek earnings slump in Q3: Tasek Corp Bhd posted a lower third quarter net profit of RM1.89mil, compared to earnings of RM7.56mil a year earlier, dampened by lower demand for cement and lower product prices. Revenue stood at RM146.55mil compared to RM149.13mil a year ago. — StarBiz
New Asean standard to draw more green bond investors: The ASEAN Green Bond Standards (AGBS), launched on Wednesday, will provide a credible background to the debt issuance and attract more green bond investors to the region, said the ASEAN Capital Market Forum chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh. — Bernama
Lazada Malaysia targets 10-fold rise in orders during campaign: Lazada Malaysia expects a 10-fold increase in orders and five-fold rise in traffic to its website during the Online Revolution 2017 campaign. The online retailer said the month-long online shopping extravaganza will be from 11.11 (Nov 11, 2017) to Dec 14, 2017 and will feature 90 million products with savings of up to 90%. — StarBiz
Perodua aims to sell 6,000 all-new Myvi with 3 months of launch: Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) targets to sell 6,000 units of its all-new Myvi within three months of its introduction on Thursday. The new variant will be priced from RM44,300 to RM55,300 and can be viewed at the company’s showrooms nationwide from Thursday. — Bernama
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