Breakfast briefing: Friday, August 14

Market wrap: US stocks finished flat on Thursday as a drop in energy shares offset a rebound in retail sales and stronger-than-expected Cisco results. - Reuters

The DJIA rose 5.74 points, or 0.03%, to 17,408.25; the S&P 500 lost 2.66 points, or 0.13%, to 2,083.39; and the Nasdaq dropped 10.83 points, or 0.21%, to 5,033.56.

Forex summary

*The local currency lost 0.73% to 4.0398 per US$

*It fell 1.06% to 4.5067 per euro

*Down 0.67% to 6.3055 to the pound sterling

*0.43% down to 2.8881 per Singapore dollar

*1.08% lower to 2.9781 per Aussie

*Down 0.75% to 3.2474 per 100 yen

Energy

US oil prices tumbled more than 3%to a 6-1/2-year low under US$42 a barrel on Thursday as data showing a big rise in key US stockpiles intensified worries over a growing global glut. Global crude benchmark Brent LCOc1 settled down 44 cents, or almost 1%, at US$49.22, ahead of Friday's expiry of its front-month contract. - Reuters

Top foreign news

Currency-rigging lawsuit settlements rise past US$2bil: Investors have recovered more than US$2 billion in settlements with nine banks over claims of price-rigging in the foreign exchange market, and are continuing to pursue claims against seven other banks, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Thursday. HSBC Holdings Plc, Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are among the latest banks to reach settlement in the class action litigation, Christopher Burke, the lawyer, said in federal court in Manhattan. - Reuters

Apple says hired 65% more women in the past year: Apple Inc said it had hired over 11,000 women globally in the past year - 65% more than the previous year - to boost employee diversity. "In the first 6 months of this year, nearly 50% of the people we've hired in the United States are women, Black, Hispanic, or Native American," chief executive Tim Cook said in a message on the company's website. - Reuters

GM boosting production of big SUVs and trucks: General Motors Co is boosting production of its highly profitable large SUVs and trucks to a pace that could result in 48,000 to 60,000 additional vehicles for the 2016 model year, in a bid to capitalise on rising demand, sources said. - Reuters

Top local stories

No peg, no controls: Bank Negara will not peg the ringgit and institutetitute capital controls for the country even though the ringgit has fallen against the US dollar to its lowest levels in 17 years.  Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said that while the drop in the ringgit was unset- tling, the central bank is confident that the ringgit would rebound and reflect its fundamentals once the United States raised its interest rates. - StarBiz

Gamuda gets PDP job for Penang project: Gamuda Bhd has been appointed as the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) to oversee and realise certain key components in the RM27bil Penang Transport Master Plan. Sources told StarBiz that the group has recently received the letter of award from the state government following a state executive councillor meeting, which endorsed the appointment. - StarBiz

GDP grows above forecast: Malaysia’s economy surprised in the second quarter by growing 4.9%, above the consensus figure of 4.5%. But economists warned that the next six months would be challenging. Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the economy was expected to be resilient and remain on a steady growth path, buoyed by domestic demand. - StarBiz

Talks on TPP still under way, says Mustapa: A cost-benefit analysis of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will be ready soon, according to International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. The US-initiated TPP covers near-y 40% of the global economy and includes 12 countries. Mustapa said the analysis, done by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, would be ready in the next few days. The analysis focuses on national and overall interests. - StarBiz

ECER draws RM78bil investments: The East Coast Economic Region (ECER) attracted RM78bil in investments and created 76,120 job opportunities between 2007 and end-June this year. Ecer Development Council chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John said these investments – domestic and foreign – represented 71% of ECER’s RM110bil investment target by 2020. - StarBiz

Uzma to invest RM472m in offshore supply base: Oil and gas outfit Uzma Bhd is planning to invest RM471.5mil over 15 years to develop its offshore supply base in Kemaman, Terengganu. The company said its wholly owned subsidiary Uzma Engineering Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding with the East Coast Economic Region Development Council for
the project. - StarBiz

No flight disruptions: Airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has come out to say that there were no occasions in which flight operations had been disrupted due to rectification works at KLIA2 since the airport opened in May last year. The company is responding to claims made by budget carrier AirAsia Bhd, the main airline using KLIA2, that frequent bay changes had affected flight operations. - StarBiz

Tropicana posts higher Q2 revenue: Property developer Tropicana Corp Bhd posted a 3.6% increase in revenue to RM312.34mil for the second quarter ended June 30 compared with a year ago driven by higher revenue recognition across key projects within the Klang Valley. However, net profit for the quarter under review dropped 74% to RM23.17mil. - StarBiz

Moderate growth likely for general insurance: The general insurance industry is likely to grow at a moderate pace, given the present challenging economic climate. The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) has downgraded this year’s projected growth for the general insurance industry to between 3% and 4% from 5.5% to 6.5% in a February projection. - StarBiz

Four more theme parks for Iskandar Malaysia: Plans are in the pipeline to turn Iskandar Malaysia into a regional theme park hub with more theme parks to be set up in the economic growth corridor. Iskandar Regional Development Authority chief executive officer Datuk Ismail Ibrahim said the growth corridor would have eight theme parks within the next three to five years. - StarBiz

Barakah Offshore teams up with Norwegian firm: Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd has teamed up with Norwegian subsea service provider, Ocean Installer Ltd, under a memorandum of collaboration to exclusively work together in the country to provide deepwater installation of subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines and related services. - StarBiz

Wintoni’s minorities seek to remove board: Ten minority shareholders of ACE Market-listed Wintoni Group Bhd have requisitioned for an EGM to remove the group’s board of directors, including executive director Datuk Tey Por Yee. They also want to appoint Datuk Jalaldin Hussain, Chaang Kok Fai and Anita Chew Cheng Im as directors of the company with immediate effect, according to a requisition notice filed with Bursa yesterday. - digitaledge

Media Prima chairman quits: Media Prima Bhd, which saw its net profit rise 22.6% for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015, announced the resignation of chairman Tan Sri Johan Jaffar, 61, effective Aug 31. He will be replaced by the current deputy chairman, Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor, who will be redesignated to fill the post on Sept 1. - digitaledge

Genting Singapore swings to Q2 net loss: Singapore-listed Genting Singapore Plc swung to a net loss of S$16.93 million (RM48.02 million) or 0.14 Singapore cents loss per share for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015, due to the downturn of the gaming industry in Asia. It posted a net profit of S$102.29 million or 0.84 Singapore cents earnings per share a year ago. digitaledge

IHH: Local healthcare sector fundamentally healthy: The healthcare sector in Malaysia is “fundamentally healthy” after the implementation of the goods and services tax and patients are still visiting hospitals for treatment, said IHH Healthcare Bhd managing director and chief executive officer Dr Tan See Leng. As for the group, the segments it operates in are also little impacted by economic fluctuations, Tan told reporters after a media luncheon yesterday. - digitaledge