KUALA LUMPUR: Avillion Bhd , which has been on an uptrend continued to climb in early trade Wednesday. The integrated travel and hotel group 10%, or two sen to 22 sen at 9.06am. It is currently the most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia with 103 million shares exchanged hands. A check on Avillion’s previous filings on Bursa Malaysia were mostly related to its private placement. Dealers said the interest in the stock could be due to the relaxation of restrictions in the social sector for states under Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia shed some of the recent gains in early Wednesday trade as the nation awaited news about the successor for the prime minister’s post. As sentiment was also weighed down by the overnight decline on Wall Street and cautious key Asian markets, retail investors were seen locking gains in semicon and chip stocks. The S&P 500 snapped a five-day rally overnight and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 retreated. PPB Group fell 10 sen to RM18.10 and MISC seven sen to RM6.77 and dragging the KLCI into the red. Dataprep rose 18 sen to RM1.27, KL Kepong eight sen to RM19.58, KUB seven sen to 67.5 sen, Lagenda six sen to RM1.32, Gas Malaysia five sen to RM2.69.

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte bought stakes or increased its holdings in several prominent Chinese technology companies shortly before sweeping moves to rein in the private sector caught the market by surprise. Many of Temasek’s listed Chinese investments have dramatically slumped in value amid heavy crackdowns by Beijing and heightened scrutiny by U.S. regulators. Here’s a breakdown of some of Temasek’s holdings as of June 30. The Chinese company, which traded at over $18 a share in January, most recently traded at $1.04 a share. While 13F filings provide a snapshot of an investor’s holdings, Temasek may have trimmed its stake in these companies since June 30 and before their prices fell.

PETALING JAYA: While the reopening of fashion, clothing and accessories stores for fully vaccinated customers is seen by business owners as the right step forward, they are careful to ensure everyone stays safe. “My staff and I are fully vaccinated and we will strictly follow the SOP. Jewellery brand Wanderlust + Co will not be reopening its stores for the time being and will instead continue with online sales. Other businesses in fashion retail are also in the midst of deciding whether to continue with online sales only. “Retailers welcome the good news on the reopening as it gives them some relief,” he said.

However, the festival did bring back some memories of when I performed the umrah (minor Islamic pilgrimage) in Mecca with my mother in 2014. It was a true journey of spiritual awakening for me, and an extra special one too as we flew to Mecca on my birthday. Apart from ihram, there are three other important rituals that pilgrims must undertake during umrah: The tawaf, saie and the cutting of your hair. Lastly, the cutting of hair symbolises that pilgrims are ready to break out of their state of ihram. After a week in Mecca, we went to Medina which was a six-hour journey by bus.

Shop owner Raymond Shieh said the idea came to him after reading many heart-wrenching recollections of those who lost their loved ones before they had a chance to be inoculated. He said some of his customers also encouraged him to produce paper vaccines as they wished to give the items as offerings to their deceased loved ones as well as wandering spirits for the month-long Hungry Ghost Festival. “I felt bad for my customers, who told me that they wanted to fulfil their deceased loved ones’ wishes of getting the Covid-19 vaccine. “I hope that my product can provide some peace of mind to my customers and help them fulfil their loved ones’ wishes,” Shieh added. During this period, devotees usually burn paper prayer items and give offerings to appease the wandering spirits and pray for good luck.

MUMBAI: Newly listed Indian stocks are beating the benchmark by the most in seven years, helped by a record pace of initial public offerings (IPOs) that some see as the start of a multi-year expansion for the country’s US$3.2 trillion (RM13.56 trillion) stock market. Most notable has been food-delivery app Zomato Ltd, the nation’s first “unicorn,” which has climbed 77% since its debut last month. “Even if 20%-25% of these unicorns take the listing route, we could easily add anywhere between US$400bil (RM1.7 trillion) and US$500bil (RM2.12 trillion) of market capitalisation,” he said in emailed comments. India is experiencing a boom in tech startups that cater to the nation’s still fledgling Internet market, and regulators have recently made it more appealing for them to list shares at home. “The simplification of the controlling structure will encourage many startups and new age companies to initiate public offering proceedings,” said Agrawal.

NEW YORK: Roblox Corp’s quarterly bookings missed market expectations, as easing restrictions slowed the pandemic-fuelled surge in spending for its games including “Jailbreak” and “MeepCity”. The company, one of the world’s most popular gaming sites for children, is a pandemic winner that had benefited from stay-at-home orders. The company’s bookings rose just 35% to US$665.5mil (RM2.82bil) for the second quarter ended June 30 compared to a 161% surge in bookings during the previous quarter. The company, which offers a host of titles across mobile devices and games consoles, said average bookings per daily active user increased slightly from the year-ago period. The company, which listed on the NYSE in March, is reporting its second quarterly earnings and is yet to turn a profit.

SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank would be prepared to take policy action should coronavirus lockdowns across the country threaten a deeper economic setback, minutes from its August meeting showed yesterday. Yet minutes showed it would also continue to review the bond-buying plan as the health situation developed. “The board would be prepared to act in response to further bad news on the health front should that lead to a more significant setback for the economic recovery,” the minutes showed. Since then, the news has been consistently bad as lockdowns spread from Sydney to the capital of Canberra, and a further 2,500 kilometers to the Northern Territory. “Under these estimates the Australian economy grows by 2.4% in 2021, down from 3.2% in our earlier forecast,” said Evans.

Although children who contract Covid-19 are less likely to develop severe symptoms, they are not immune to the disease. Until recently, children in Malaysia have been barred from getting their shots, although the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for children aged 12 and above since June. In Malaysia, it took the government two months to set a date for children to get their shots, delaying the decision due to the unlikely risk of myocarditis and pericarditis – inflammation of the heart – among adolescent recipients. Head of the Independent Covid-19 Vaccination Advisory Committee Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said there was no need to reopen schools. He added that every health district office has a school health team experienced in vaccinating children that could be mobilised for this purpose.

Since the ban on dining-in and the pivot to ordering online, plastic food containers have become ubiquitous. While awareness of plastic waste — especially imported plastic — has increased, this has not necessarily impacted personal habits, she said. “The onus is not only on individuals but also corporations that continue to use single-use plastic packaging. Hema said the roadmap was a positive start to reduce single-use plastics and plastic waste pollution. However, recycling should always be the last option as contaminated single-use plastic products cannot be recycled.

“My task is to provide emotional support to callers who reach out to us for help and support over the phone. “It brings me joy when I can help clients become better and provide them with positive input because, in turn, I am also learning from them,” she said. “Initially, the careline was set up to cater for clients in the morning as the Befrienders Penang hotline only starts at 3pm until midnight. Currently, there are about nine volunteers who act as para-counsellors for the careline on a rotation basis. Although located in Penang, the careline accepts callers from other states as well.

CURRENT and former state athletes are invited to contribute to the development of the next generation of talent through the Penang Junior Coaches programme. Run by the Penang State Sports Council (PSSC), it seeks to fill 200 part-time coaching positions in 10 different sports — athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, hockey, netball, petanque, sepak takraw, silambam and silat. “All junior coaches who apply are required to attend a workshop from 8.45am to noon on Aug 28. “They will then have to sit for a theoretical exam and pass to be considered for the coaching positions,” Chai explained. Interested parties may apply for the Penang Junior Coaches programme by visiting https://msnpp.penang.gov.my or sending an email to coaches.msnpp@gmail.comRegistration is now open and closes at 5pm on Aug 23.

He added that parishes could continue to provide live-streaming of masses with volunteers not exceeding 12 people apart from the priest, provided that all volunteers were fully vaccinated. However, weddings may resume with a maximum number of 20 guests apart from the bride and bridegroom, provided that those physically present are fully vaccinated. “At the moment, only the chief priest is fully vaccinated but some of the other staff have only had their first dose. “The temple’s front gates are still closed and we are only allowing fully vaccinated devotees who wish to fulfil vows into the temple. “Although I have been fully vaccinated, I am not willing to take the chance.

After the deal, BHP shareholders will own about 48% of Woodside, the miner said in a statement yesterday. The company also announced it would eradicate its dual-listing structure and move to a single primary listing in Australia. BHP has also finally approved the first stage of construction of the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, after years of wavering over the huge price tag. “Potash provides BHP with increased leverage to key global mega-trends, including rising population, changing diets, decarbonisation and improving environmental stewardship,” the company said. The industry has been focused on shareholder returns and debt reduction after being penalised by investors for overspending.