Tax scrutiny: Apple and other multinational companies have come under much tax scrutiny from governments around the world. — Reuters
MarketWrap: Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday after an Opec agreement to limit crude output fuelled a rally in oil and more than offset nervousness about a tight race for the US presidency. - Reuters
The DJIA rose 0.61% to end at 18,339.24 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.53% to 2,171.37 and the Nasdaq added 0.24% to 5,318.55.
Forex summary
*The ringgit gained 0.56% to 4.1150 per US$
*It was 0.46% higher at 4.6197 per euro
*Up 0.16% to 5.3673 per pound sterling
*Up 0.49% to 3.0238 per Singapore dollar
*0.06% higher to 3.1720 per Aussie
*Up 1.23% to 4.0598 per 100 yen
Energy
Oil prices settled up nearly 6% on Wednesday after Opec struck a deal to limit crude output at its policy meeting in November, its first agreement to cut production since 2008 and after the market crashed on oversupply. Brent crude LCOc1 settled up US$2.72, or 5.9%, at US$48.69 a barrel, hitting a more than two-week high of US$48.96. - Reuters
Top foreign stories
Wells Fargo's CEO pay clawback puts Wall Street executives on notice: Wells Fargo & Co's unprecedented move to strip chief executive John Stumpf of US$41 million in stock awards has sent a chill through Wall Street with bankers fearful that a hardening political climate against corporate wrongdoing will encourage boards to be more aggressive about making them forfeit pay. - Reuters
IMF chief sees lower US growth, calls trade barriers ‘malpractice’: International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday the institution would lower its 2016 US growth forecast again and called policies that restrict trade “economic malpractice” that would choke off growth. - Reuters
Apple deepens enterprise push with Deloitte partnership: Apple Inc and Deloitte LLP announced a partnership on Wednesday in which the consultant will open a new practice to help corporate clients work with Apple products, the tech firm's latest attempt to boost enterprise sales as its key product, the iPhone, shows signs of maturation. - Reuters
EU warns Deutsche Boerse, LSE deal could harm competition: EU antitrust regulators on Wednesday raised a raft of concerns over the proposed US$28 billion merger between Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange, saying it could hinder competition in key financial market activities. The European Commission said it would investigate over the next four months whether the deal would sharply reduce competition in clearing, derivatives and index licensing. - Reuters
SABMiller investors cheer US$100b-plus AB InBev takeover: SABMiller shareholders overwhelmingly backed the brewer's US$100 billion-plus takeover by Anheuser-Busch InBev on Wednesday, clearing the last big hurdle for one of the largest corporate mergers in history. - Reuters
SAP investing US$2b in IoT: Europe’s biggest software maker SAP has earmarked two billion euros (US$2.2bil) for investments in products that help companies to connect everything from washing machines to cars to the Internet. It would invest that amount by the end of 2020, targeting what it estimates to be a 250-billion-euro market in the so-called Internet of Things or IoT. - Reuters
BoE: More UK stimulus probably needed ‘at some point’: Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik said she expected the central bank would need to pump more stimulus into Britain’s economy “at some point” as it adjusts to the shock of the vote to leave the European Union. - Reuters
Top local stories
DRB-Hicom to maintain substantial stake in Proton: DRB-Hicom group managing director and Proton chairman Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar Syed Ali Rethza Albar said the group will remain a substantial shareholder in Proton despite reports indicating that DRB-Hicom was looking to dispose of up to a 51% stake in Proton. - StarBiz
* DRB-Hicom has shortlisted five potential strategic partners for Proton and was “striving to close the deal” by the first quarter of next year. - StarBiz
Investor eyes up to 20% stake in Resintech: A new shareholder is believed to be surfacing in piping company Resintech Bhd
, looking to capitalise on its piping capabilities and synergising with it to bid for large-scale projects, a source said. The new shareholder is said to be eyeing a stake of between 15% and 20% in the family-owned company. - StarBiz
Apple to move London HQ to Battersea: Apple Inc is leasing about 500,000 sq ft of office space at Battersea Power Station on the south bank of London’s River Thames. The lease accounts for about 40% of the office space within the development. - Bloomberg
VS Industry upbeat about financial year 2017: VS Industry Bhd expects a better performance in the financial year 2017 (FY17), driven by a new customer base to produce the Diamond-branded water filtration system as well as new orders for its in-house coffee-brewer model. - StarBiz
Yinson Q2 net profit at RM60mil: Yinson Holdings Bhd’s net profit fell 23% to RM60.4mil in its second quarter impacted by impairment of receivables. Revenue rose by 16% to RM114.5mil on higher activity and a stronger US dollar. - StarBiz
Will Petronas go ahead with LNG project after getting Canada nod?: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has finally secured the approval for its mega liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Canada, but the question now is whether the national oil company will proceed with its multi-billion dollar venture that was originally proposed three years ago. - StarBiz
* Petronas will keep on reviewing its business strategies to achieve cost competitiveness amid reports that it is looking to lay off more employees. - StarBiz
Public Bank increases limit of notes programme: Public Bank Bhd has increased the limit of its senior medium-term notes programme from RM5bil to up to RM20bil in nominal value. - StarBiz
Flat Q4 profit for Gamuda: Gamuda Bhd recorded RM152.1mil in net profit for the fourth quarter, down 1%, while revenue was at RM614.4mil, also lower by 1.4%. It attributed the lower revenue to tapering of underground and elevated works of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 1. - StarBiz
Utusan unit’s JV firm wins MRT ad contracts: A joint-venture company between a Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd unit and three other companies, Titanium Compass, is one of the concessionaires awarded an advertising contract by Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp). - StarBiz
Shift in sales strategy helps Hai-O draw young entrepreneurs: Multi-level marketing firm Hai-O Enterprise Bhd said a shift in its sales strategy to focus on smaller and less pricey consumer items is helping it attract young entrepreneurs. This is fuelling the company’s double-digit revenue growth. - StarBiz
Munir appointed chairman of FSPB: The Financial Services Professional Board (FSPB) has appointed Tan Sri Mohd Munir Abdul Majid as its chairman, succeeding Tan Sri Azman Hashim. - StarBiz
SC reprimands, fines former top Dufu executives: Securities Commission (SC) has reprimanded and fined former Dufu Technology Corp Bhd executive director and CEO Yong Poh Yow and former executive director and chief financial officer Lee Hui Ta for causing wrongful loss to the company. - Bernama
SapKen Q2 profit rises 7.9%: SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd (SapKen) recorded a 7.9% increase in net profit to RM112.3mil for the second quarter. Its revenue slid 40.2% to RM1.7bil. - StarBiz
Mobius: South-East Asian stocks still offer good value: South-East Asian shares, some of the priciest in developing nations, still offer good value and political worries about the region are “overdone,” says Templeton Emerging Markets Group executive chairman Mark Mobius. - Bloomberg
Lay Hong to invest RM43mil: Poultry company Lay Hong Bhd is spending RM43mil by the end of March next year to double its chicken production to two million birds a month and increase egg production capacity by two-thirds to three million a day. - StarBiz
BCM Alliance to raise RM16mil from Ace Market IPO: BCM Alliance Bhd, en route for a listing on the Ace Market of Bursa Malaysia, expects to raise RM16.01mil from its initial public offering (IPO). - StarBiz
Ombudsman for financial services starts Oct 1: Financial consumers seeking to resolve disputes with financial service providers can now seek the help of the Ombudsman for Financial Services, says Bank Negara. It said the ombudsman, an independent redress mechanism for financial consumers, will start operations on Oct 1. - StarBiz
CLIQ shareholders to get trust account cash: CLIQ Energy Bhd said on Wednesday trading in its shares will be sus- pended from Oct 5. On Tuesday its liquidators said they will distribute the money in the company’s cash trust account — currently totallingRM362.8million—to entitled shareholders in two tranches. - Edge FD
StanChart: Govt has to rely on one-off revenue-raising measures to meet deficit target: Standard Chartered (StanChart) said the Malaysian government would have to rely on one-off measures to boost revenue to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.1% of gross domestic product for 2016. - Edge FD
Subscribe now and receive FREE sooka plan for 1 month.
T&C applies.
