The labour market remains in a holding pattern, with layoffs still low and hiring sluggish. "The picture of the labour market from the claims data, as noisy as it has been in recent weeks, is one of at least stable labour market conditions," said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics. Claims are difficult to adjust for seasonal fluctuations around the year-end holiday season and the start of the year. Seasonal factors, the model that the government uses to iron out seasonal fluctuations from the data, had expected applications to increase by 45,652 last week. Labour market stasis was underscored by the Federal Reserve's (Fed) Beige Book report on Wednesday, which showed "employment was mostly unchanged" in early January.

PETALING JAYA: The Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project connecting Malaysia and Singapore is progressing smoothly and is expected to be completed on schedule by the end of this year, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke. He said most physical infrastructure works are complete, with the project now in the process of installing RTS systems. "Without this law, we cannot establish co-located customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) stations, which would allow Singaporean officers at Bukit Chagar and Malaysian officers at Woodlands North. On the Bukit Chagar Integrated Development, he said it should adopt Hong Kong's Central-style model, connecting surrounding buildings through pedestrian walkways linked to JB Sentral. "JB Sentral and Bukit Chagar are nearly 300m apart, so integration between the two is needed for people to easily access buses and trains," he said.

SUNWAY Velocity Mall was transformed into a vibrant arena of colour and movement as Sunway Malls launched its Chinese New Year campaign, “Galloping Into Prosperity”, in conjunction with the Year of the Horse. The main atrium was redesigned into a circular layout symbolising continuity, movement and togetherness, reflecting the forward momentum associated with the horse. The month-long celebration was launched by Sunway Malls chief executive officer HC Chan, who said the Year of the Horse represented energy, resilience and progress. “The Year of the Horse symbolises strength and forward movement. A display of 15 supercars, including Ferraris, Porsches and Mustangs, surrounded parts of the mall, reflecting the theme of speed, strength and momentum.

KUALA LUMPUR: BMI maintained its view that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will leave the overnight policy rate (OPR) unchanged at 2.75 per cent for the rest of 2026 amid support from resilient domestic demand. "We are aligned with the bank and expect growth to slow from an estimated 4.6 per cent in 2025 to 4.1 per cent in 2026, the lower end of the BNM’s forecast of 4.0 per cent-4.5 per cent,” BMI said. BMI noted that the central bank had minimal concerns about inflation for now, as headline inflation has largely turned out as expected, averaging 1.4 per cent between January 2025 and November 2025. The research firm has also revised its foreign exchange forecast, now expecting the ringgit to reach RM4 per US dollar by the end of 2026. "With BNM standing pat, this means that yield differentials should move in the ringgit’s favour,” BMI said.

PETALING JAYA: Four factories in an industrial area along Jalan 5, Kampung Olak Lempit, Banting, were affected by a fire on Wednesday night (Jan 14), with two destroyed. He said the fire involved an oil-processing factory and that defensive firefighting operations were carried out due to explosions on the premises. According to Ahmad Mukhlis, the fire destroyed two factories. He added that three victims were found charred inside one of the destroyed factories, and their identities have yet to be identified. He said the operation involved personnel from the Banting Fire and Rescue Station, with assistance from stations in KLIA, Dengkil, Cyberjaya, Bangi, Petaling Jaya, Precinct 7 (Putrajaya) and Nilai, Negri Sembilan.

A crane at a construction site of a high-speed rail project collapsed onto the passenger train below, causing it to derail. I helped pull the injured out from a carriage," said Penporn, whose family-run restaurant is just across the road. At the scene, Penporn saw fire and fuel leaking from the tilted carriages. Penporn said she ultimately helped pull "20 or 30 people" from the wrecked train, some with minor injuries and others with serious head wounds. "My husband climbed down inside a carriage and helped a couple of people before rescue teams arrived."

LONDON (Jan 15): Oil prices tumbled more than 3% on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said that killings of demonstrators during protests in Iran were ending, easing concerns over military action against Iran and potential oil supply disruptions. US West Texas Intermediate crude retreated by US$2.06, or 3.3%, to US$59.96, having earlier lost as much as 4.6%. The comments reduced the risk premium that had built up in recent days, analysts said. Elsewhere, Venezuela has begun reversing oil production cuts made under a US embargo, with crude exports also resuming, three sources said. China's crude oil imports in December rose 17% from a year earlier while total imports in 2025 were up 4.4%, government data showed, with daily crude import volumes hitting record highs.

NEW DELHI (Jan 15): India has issued a final warning to Apple that it will proceed in an antitrust case against the US tech giant as the company has delayed responses to officials for over a year and undermined the investigation, a confidential order shows. Apple, which denies the allegations, has challenged the penalty rules in an Indian court, and the matter is pending. "Such indulgence cannot be continued indefinitely," it added, giving Apple a final warning that it will proceed in the case unilaterally if no response is received by next week. Since 2022, Tinder-owner Match and Indian startups have been locked in an antitrust battle with Apple. Investigators in 2024 issued a report saying the US smartphone company engaged in "abusive conduct" on the iOS apps market.

JAKARTA (Jan 15): Indonesia's military-backed forestry task force has threatened legal action against dozens of plantation and mining companies refusing to pay hefty fines for operations in forest areas that authorities deem illegal. Seven mining and 54 palm oil companies have paid or agreed to pay fines of 9.3 trillion rupiah (US$552 million or RM2.2 billion), the task force added. Companies that complied include the palm oil units of conglomerate Salim Group which paid fines equivalent to US$136 million, Best Agro Group, which forked over US$98 million in fines, and US$57 million by a unit of Sampoerna Agro. Astra Agro Lestari also paid a fine of US$34 million, the task force added in the Instagram post. Goodhope and Musim Mas face fines of US$107 million and US$20 million, respectively.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): ES Sunlogy Bhd (KL:SUNLOGY) said it has clinched a RM22.3 million subcontract to undertake electrical works for a high-rise serviced apartment development in Batu Kawan, Penang. In a bourse filing on Thursday, the mechanical and electrical engineering services firm said the job was awarded by the main contractor Kerjaya Prospek (M) Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned unit of Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd (KL:KERJAYA). ES Sunlogy is required to commence works on March 2, with completion scheduled for August 2029, according to the filing. This marks the second major contract won by ES Sunlogy in January, following a RM15.22 million subcontract announced earlier this month for electrical works at a high-rise serviced apartment project in Johor. Shares in ES Sunlogy slipped one sen, or 3.77% to close at 25.5 sen on Thursday, valuing the company at RM178.5 million.

Rising memory prices are also a risk for chipmakers that provide semiconductors for smartphones, as noted in recent downgrades of Qualcomm Inc by Mizuho Securities and Arm Holdings plc by Bank of America. “So long as memory prices stay high, and we expect prices to stay high for a while given the AI demand, the market could continue punishing them,” Thummel said. Hedgeye Risk Management last week said it had “less conviction” on Apple as the memory issue becomes more concerning. Dell also noted the impact of rising memory prices in its results, though its estimates have held up better as the company’s server business sees strong demand amid the AI buildout. “The good news is that memory prices are cyclical, but there’s so much scarcity in supply that I don’t expect a reversion back in the other direction anytime soon.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Another senior Armed Forces officer has been detained by graft busters, just two days after former Army chief Jen Tan Sri Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan was freed from remand. The senior military officer was detained at about 11am yesterday, also over the ongoing investigations involving the military, said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki. It was previously reported that MACC recorded the statements of a senior military officer on Jan 11 and 12. Earlier, the Armed Forces Council had postponed its decision to appoint Muhammad Hafizuddeain as the Armed Forces chief. On Tuesday, a police officer was remanded on suspicion of accepting RM27,000 in bribes related to the same case.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Pestec International Bhd (KL:PESTEC) has appointed Datuk Adam Yee Hee Hoon as president of the power grid and rail network engineering group, effective Thursday. Yee, former president and CEO of Siemens Malaysia, will guide Pestec’s strategic direction and new business development, the group said in a statement on Thursday. “Deputy group CEO Manindar Singh Chawla will continue to oversee project delivery and day-to-day operational matters, also reporting to [Mohamed Razeek]. Pay Chuan had served as group CEO since October 2020. Ah Hock, who had been executive chairman since 2011, was redesignated as non-executive deputy chairman in December 2024 prior to his departure.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Chin Hin Group Property Bhd (KL:CHGP) has cancelled the RM74 million sale of its commercial vehicle and bodyworks businesses after the buyer failed to secure financing, delaying the group’s plan to fully focus on property development. N&K Resources is a real estate company owned by All Trade Resources (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Chin Hin had planned to sell its entire equity interests in four subsidiaries — Boon Koon Vehicles Industries Sdn Bhd, BKCV Sdn Bhd, Boon Koon Fleet Management Sdn Bhd and BK Fleet Management Sdn Bhd. Chin Hin Property said it will refund the RM7.4 million deposit paid by the purchaser, free of interest, and that both parties will have no further rights or obligations under the agreement. Shares in Chin Hin Property closed up one sen, or 0.85%, at RM1.18 on Thursday, valuing the group at about RM1.64 billion.

(Jan 15): The world's largest asset manager BlackRock reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on Thursday as a rally in markets lifted fee income and pushed its assets under management to a record US$14.04 trillion (RM56.8 trillion). As inflation eased and the job market cooled, the Federal Reserve turned more dovish, driving strong inflows into BlackRock's fixed-income products. Total fixed income inflows amounted to US$83.77 billion, up from US$23.78 billion in the fourth quarter. BlackRock's assets under management rose to US$14.04 trillion in the quarter, up from US$11.55 trillion a year earlier. Long-term net inflows totaled about US$267.8 billion, led by continued strength in its ETF business, the firm's main engine of organic growth.