Energy
Brent crude was 0.53% higher to US$55.39 per barrel at 2.34pm.
Forex
Ringgit up 0.23% to 4.4620 versus the US dollar at 2.43pm.
Top foreign stories
Gold hits 7-week highs on weaker dollar after Trump briefing: Gold rose to a 7-week high on Thursday on a weaker dollar after US President-elect Donald Trump provided little clarity on future fiscal policies at a press briefing. Spot gold was up 0.5% at US$1,196.06 per ounce, after touching a high of US$1,198.58, its best since Nov 23. — Reuters
Ex-PBoC adviser: China should halt yuan intervention, preserve reserves: China’s central bank should set a “bottom line” of 25% for the yuan to depreciate, stop intervening to help preserve foreign exchange reserves, Yu Yongding, a former People’s Bank of China (PBoC) adviser, was quoted as saying by financial magazine Caixin on Thursday. “It is a very bad policy to let the yuan depreciate gradually and slowly towards a ‘reasonable and balanced level’ through sustained interventions,” he said. — Reuters
Global PC sales fall 6.2%, fifth straight year of decline: Global personal computer (PC) sales fell 6.2% to 269.7 million units in 2016 from a year ago, extending the decline in sales for the fifth straight year, says Gartner, Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2016, worldwide PC shipments fell 3.7% to 72.6 million units, according to its preliminary results. — StarBiz
Top local stories
Maybank Indonesia to sell stake in WOM Finance: Maybank Indonesia, a unit of Malayan Banking Bhd, is planning to dispose of its entire 68.55% stake in WOM Finance to PT Reliance Capital Management for an indicative price of 673.77 billion rupiah (approximately RM229.08mil) cash consideration. — StarBiz
Malaysia launches 5-year Islamic fund, wealth management blueprint: Malaysia has launched a five-year Islamic Fund and Wealth Management Blueprint to further strengthen the country’s position as a global hub for Islamic funds by 2021. The plan, the first of its kind globally, is also aimed at developing the country as an international provider of Islamic wealth management services. — Bernama
SC expects firms to raise up RM105b capital in 2017: The Securities Commission (SC) expects companies to raise between RM90 billion and RM105 billion in capital this year. Chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh said that of the amount, about RM85 billion would be raised through bonds and sukuk, RM7 billion each from initial public offerings and equities, respectively, and the rest from the secondary market. — Bernama
Bank Islam board has full confidence in MD Zukri: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd has expressed full confidence in its managing director Datuk Seri Zukri Samat who is due to retire in June 2017 and he will complete his tenure. Chairman Datuk Zamani Abdul Ghani on Thursday reaffirmed that Zukri is of “high repute” as the managing director of the bank. — StarBiz
Alibaba collaborates with Prestariang: Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, on Thursday inked a memorandum of understanding with Prestariang Bhd and Singapore’s Conversant Solutions Pte Ltd to build an integrated education platform, known as EduCloud. — StarBiz
Saudi keeps Feb oil exports steady to most buyers in Asia; cuts India, Malaysia: Saudi Arabia has cut February term crude supplies to refiners in India and South-East Asia, seeking to comply with an Opec deal, but it has held most of its exports to the rest of Asia steady for a second month, industry sources said. State oil giant Saudi Aramco reduced February term supplies of mainly heavy crude to Indian refiners Reliance Industries and Hindustan Mittal Energy Ltd, as well as to Malaysia’s Petronas, they said. — Reuters
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