Hong Kong singer Maggie Fu took to Instagram on April 1 to share some of the last photos she took on her phone in London before it was snatched from her by three men in black. Along the way, she met a kind stranger who lent her his handphone to contact her family to lock her phone remotely. Although she had calmed down and took care of things, she decided to leave London immediately and hence, got on the next available flight back to Hong Kong. Fu added that it is easier to focus on the bad things and ignore the good things, which is why she is sharing the importance of changing one's perspective. We should always trust that things will work out and that the universe will give us the strength to go on.”

KUALA LUMPUR (April 13): Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) has maintained its “buy” call on Genting Bhd, with an unchanged target price of RM6.75, as it sees significant value in the stock, despite the company’s continuous headline losses. Its analyst Tan Kai Shuen said the group’s headline losses for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022) were mainly attributed to the recognition of large impairment and foreign exchange losses, which he believes contributed to the share price underperformance. “Due to the high per capita income of the locals, their strong spending power was enough to sustain GenS' performance during the pandemic. “In 4Q2022, GenS’ adjusted Ebitda recovered to 89% of the pre-pandemic level [in 4Q2019]. Notably, GenS' share price has performed well, surging 63.4% to S$1.16 (RM3.85), from a one-year low of S$0.71 on July 6, 2022.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 13): A new variant of Covid-19 dubbed 'Arcturus' is behind a fresh surge of infections in India. It said the national capital logged 1,149 fresh cases along with one fatality. With the addition of the fresh cases, Delhi's infection tally has risen to 20,17,250. Delhi logged 980 Covid cases on Tuesday, the highest since Aug 20, with a positivity rate of 25.98%, along with two fatalities. Read also:Report: New Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 is ‘one to watch’, says WHO expert

KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic market is starting out on a weaker footing after the minutes from the US Federal Reserve's recent meeting showed expectations of a mild recession later this year. "We believe further profit taking activities may emerge in the regional markets and our local bourse," said Malacca Securities Research in a note. Leading tech counters included MPI falling 26 sen to RM28.62, D&O dropping seven sen to RM4.22 and Pentamaster shedding seven sen to RM4.93. Sister company Capital A fell 2.5 sen to 78.5 sen as the regularisation plan was expected to lift both companies out of Practice Note 17 status. Most actively traded in the opening minutes of trade were Hong Seng unchanged at 13 sen, Jade Marvel up one sne ot 31 sen and Revenue down 0.5 sen to 32.5 sen.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) has once again applied to Bursa Securities for more time to submit its regularisation plan by extending its April 28 deadline to July 28. The regularisation plan is crucial as it is supposed to lift not just AAX, but also its sister company Capital A Bhd — which operates short-haul, low-cost airline AirAsia — out of Practice Note 17 (PN17) status. It is widely expected that the regularisation plan involves Capital A injecting its aviation business into AAX via an issuance of shares. Capital A and AAX are working on their respective regularisation plans. The recent Capital A share price rally has caused many to wonder about the price that AAX will have to pay to acquire AirAsia.

NEW DELHI (April 11): A group of Indian startups has asked a court to suspend Alphabet Inc Google's new in-app billing fee system until the country's antitrust body investigates the US firm for alleged non-compliance with its directives, a legal filing showed. The 744-page filing, seen by Reuters, asks the court to "keep the implementation of Google’s UCB in abeyance" until CCI hears the complaint. The new service fee system, it says, supports investments in Google Play app store and the Android mobile operating system, ensuring it distributes it for free, and covers developer tools and analytic services. But Indian startups argue Google's UCB system still imposes a "service fee" of 11-26%, compared with the earlier in-app payment system that charged a fee of 15-30%. The new system is "cloaked as another version" of Google's earlier system, the ADIF filing stated.

(April 7): The US bank crisis that rattled global markets last month is probably nearing the end, even if more unforeseen failures occur, JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer Jamie Dimon said. “But if there are, I know honestly they’ll be resolved and it will probably be the last of them,” Dimon said. In a CNN report earlier Thursday, he said the recent turmoil in the financial industry had probably made a US recession more likely, though a downturn won’t necessarily happen. “We are seeing people reduce lending a little bit, cut back a little bit and pull back a little bit,” the broadcaster quoted him as saying. The government shouldn’t overreact to the banking crisis by imposing more rules on the industry, Dimon said.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 7): Bursa Malaysia's main index opened almost flat in the early session on Friday (April 7) as cautious sentiment remained in the market, tracking Wall Street’s performance overnight amid volatile trading sessions, an analyst said. At 9.12am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.7 of-a-point to 1,424.19 from Thursday's closing of 1,424.89. The main index opened 0.03 of-a-point lower at 1,424.86. The FBM 70 Index went up 21.52 points to 13,611.18, while the FBM ACE Index was 17.08 points lower at 5,311.13. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 13.61 points to 15,732.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.1 of-a-point to 172.98 and the Plantation Index shaved 0.18 of-a-point to 6,723.42, while the Energy Index increased 2.36 points to 864.01.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Malaysia is open to reviving a high-speed rail project to Singapore, though it has to be a private sector-led initiative, its trade minister said in an interview with CNBC aired on Thursday (April 6). In January 2021, Malaysia and Singapore jointly called off an estimated US$17-billion (RM75 billion) plan to build a 350km high-speed railway between Kuala Lumpur and the city-state, after both countries failed to agree on several proposed changes to the project. Malaysia paid S$102.8 million (RM340.6 million) to Singapore for the project's termination, both countries said at the time. Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz told CNBC companies were welcome to submit proposals to re-start the project. Singapore's government also indicated last year the country is open to fresh proposals from Malaysia on the project, according to media.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): Bursa Malaysia is likely to see cautious trading next week, but the attractive valuations of some stocks on the local bourse may attract bargain hunters, said an analyst. Weekly turnover jumped to 17.96 billion units worth RM13.30 billion, against 14.02 billion units worth RM9.72 billion last Friday. The Main Market volume advanced to 11.57 billion shares valued at RM11.13 billion, from 9.24 billion shares valued at RM8.16 billion a week ago. Warrant turnover rose to 2.26 billion units worth RM363.11 million, from 1.76 billion units worth RM303.70 million previously. The ACE Market volume increased to 4.13 billion shares worth RM1.80 billion, from three billion shares worth RM1.24 billion.

Some foreign funds will look to diversify their portfolios, especially for the financial sector. Foreign funds have been on a net outflow for the past six months in a row. “We believe foreign funds will make a U-turn back to Asia, as prevailing low valuations remain as the star attraction. Malaysia will enjoy some spillover effects, hence providing the much required liquidity in the market,” Yee said. “In terms of growth earnings, Southeast Asia or Asia Pacific is the region where we will see growth, and money should get into this region,” Thong said.

The announcement came after the High Court dismissed Serba Dinamik’s application for the permanent stay of the winding up petition earlier on the same day. The petition for the winding up was made against Serba Dinamik and three of its subsidiaries — Serba Dinamik International Ltd, Serba Dinamik Sdn Bhd and Serba Dinamik Group Bhd — by six financial institutions. The six are: Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd, AmBank Islamic Bhd, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd, United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd and Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd over the non-payment of debts totalling about RM5 billion. The RM5 billion included the US$500 million (RM2.13 billion) sukuk, on which Serba Dinamik had defaulted. Read also:High Court refuses permanent stay order against winding up of Serba Dinamik, three units pending appealHigh Court allows winding-up of Serba Dinamik, three subsidiaries

SIBU: A 28-year-old social media influencer lost RM16,799 after falling victim to an online job offer scam via Facebook. Enticed, the victim then contacted a Facebook account holder about the job offer. "The victim then received a bank notification that there had been a fund transfer from her account," he said. Realising that she had been scammed, ACP Zulkipli said the victim lodged a police report. He urged the public not to be deceived by advertisements on social media that offer lucrative returns.

(March 14): Chinese markets have been notably unperturbed by the global convulsions sparked by the fallout from a sudden rush of US banking failures. The biggest drop in two-year Treasury yields since the early 1980s hasn’t had much impact on their Chinese equivalents, which have barely moved. Onshore credit spreads haven’t budged since last Friday (March 10), while mainland Chinese stocks rallied on Monday on signs that monetary policy will largely be stable this year. Yuan assets are likely to be shielded from the market tumult fuelled by concerns of US systemic banking risks as investors cement bets on China’s economic recovery. That would result in a narrowing rate differential with China, and boost the appeal of yuan assets.

PETALING JAYA: Despite weak demand, Top Glove Corp Bhd is expected to increase the average selling prices (ASPs) of its gloves soon. “While Top Glove is expecting to raise ASPs gradually going forward, we are not particularly enthusiastic about it, as this is done in anticipation of rising raw material costs. HLIB Research pointed out that latex prices were expected to rise due to wintering season, whereas higher butadiene prices would drive nitrile rubber prices higher. “Other Malaysian, Chinese and Thai glove manufacturers will likely follow suit, since rising raw material prices will impact all producers. The brokerage said it would take time for the market to absorb the excess glove supply before Top Glove could regain profitability.