Forex

Ringgit likely to trade cautiously next week ahead of key US data

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit is expected to trade cautiously next week ahead of key data points in the United States, including the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index and producer price index (PPI), as well as speeches by several Federal Reserve officials.

Insight

Hire for the mission

Senior recruitment fails more often than most boards admit. Not because candidates aren't talented, but because hiring starts from the wrong place.

Star Biz7

Dubai luxe property keeps booming

Shahab Lutfi just sold a Dubai penthouse for more than US$100mil, and he's betting that the boom in the city's ultra-luxury property market will continue.

Star Biz7

Chow Tai Fook courts the young

China's largest jewellery retailer, Chow Tai Fook, which competes with Tiffany and Cartier and is in the middle of its biggest makeover in decades, is introducing new products and store formats as it moves into overseas markets.

Star Biz7

Singapore’s financial sector a big winner

Liquidity will lead the charge in Singapore's equity market.

Insight

AI in the layman’s eye

The subject of artificial intelligence (AI) has become so dominant that the World Economic Forum in Davos recently reputedly devoted 200 sessions for corporate leaders to discuss AI from multiple angles.

Star Biz7

Watts from water

Nestled amid oil palm estates in Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor, a vast former tin mining pond is being transformed into one of South-East Asia's largest floating solar facilities.

Insight

Towards work-life mastery

Dear captains, In recent years, few workplace ideas have been discussed as frequently and as loosely as work–life balance. It is often raised with good intentions, defended passionately, and yet applied inconsistently.

Star Biz7

Jinhua – a trading hub without borders

In Jinhua, an inland prefecture-level city in East China's Zhejiang province, traders like to say the air smells of orders.

Insight

Broadening Malaysia’s trade

Malaysia has enjoyed strong economic growth of above 5% for two consecutive years – an impressive rate for a maturing emerging market economy.

Short Position

Smart city can’t beat the traffic

Klang Valley's traffic was the talk of Chinese New Year reunions, and it is not hard to see why.

Insight

High hopes as dividend is nigh

The Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) over 16.5 million contributors must be waiting with high hopes for the announcement of the dividend rate for 2025.

Star Biz7

Asia bonds for diversification

Three forces are reshaping Asia's bond markets, as Allianz Global Investors (GI) sees it.

Insight

Handling non-public info properly

The issue of disseminating non-public information via investment analysts' reports – whether in written format, electronically, on social networks like WhatsApp, or even within Telegram chat groups – has recently come to the forefront.

Short Position

Powering a new reinvestment cycle as demand surges

Even as the government accelerates the rollout of renewable energy, the gas-fired power sector is entering what could be its most significant reinvestment cycle in over a decade, driven by rising electricity demand, ageing generation assets and tightening reserve margins.

Star Biz7

AI disruption fears rock markets

The stock market turmoil unleashed by the artificial intelligence (AI) industry reflects two fears that are increasingly at odds.

Insight

The EV CKD conundrum

It is good that the government wants to grow Malaysia's electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing capability. But in aiming to achieve this, should it include protectionist measures?

Short Position

Up in Arms - or up the value chain?

Questions about the government's US$250mil deal with Arm Holdings are puzzling.

Insight

Fair play with taxes 

Governments are increasingly taxing the rich. This strategy is often used to garner support, particularly among younger demographics.

Star Biz7

US LNG exporters lead in gas use

US exporters of liquified natural gas (LNG) consumed more natural gas than both households and commercial businesses last year, tightening US gas supplies and putting the LNG export boom squarely in the frame of discussions surrounding rising US energy costs.