At 5pm, the 30-stock index was down 22.23 points or 1.5% to 1,459.05, its lowest since November 2020. Sime Darby Plantation , which fell 19 sen to RM4.60, pushed the index lower by 1.9383 points. Press Metal fell 14 sen to RM4.84, nudging the index 1.6990 points lower and Petronas Chemicals eased 13 sen to RM9.53, leading the index 1.5317 points lower. Hartalega fell 19 sen to RM2.98, IHH Healthcare lost 11 sen to RM6.19 and Top Glove declined two sen to RM1.01. Among the banks, Maybank eased five sen to RM8.63, Public Bank lost three sen to RM4.48, CIMB declined three sen to RM4.96, RHB Bank fell seven sen to RM5.76 and Hong Leong Bank climbed four sen to RM20.64.

KUALA LUMPUR: Budget carrier AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) has announced that it will be flying from Kuala Lumpur to London, Dubai and Istanbul this year, as it tries to recapture profitable long-haul routes post-reopening of international travels. It is noteworthy that this is the first time for debt-laden AAX to offer flights to Dubai and Istanbul. ALSO READ: AirAsia X reports whopping RM33.62bil net profit in 3QIn an event today (Wednesday) to “relaunch” AAX, its CEO Benyamin Ismail also said four new medium-haul routes to Japan and Hawaii have been launched, which are all on sale from today. With the new medium-haul routes, the budget carrier offers flights across seven popular routes from Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi, Sydney, Seoul (Incheon), Tokyo (Haneda), Sapporo (Chitose), Osaka (Kansai), and from Osaka (Kansai) to Honolulu. Benyamin pointed out that the resumption of four routes to Japan and Hawaii and the launch of flights to London, Istanbul and Dubai is “just the beginning”.

PETALING JAYA (June 15): The 21st International Architecture, Interior Design & Building Exhibition 2022 (ARCHIDEX 2022) will be held from June 29 until July 2 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. The exhibition is expected to welcome 37,000 visitors in its hybrid format, and will be held together via its official digital platform ARCHIDEX Online. ARCHIDEX 2022 will feature 400 exhibitors, DATUM:KL Conferences, forums, talks, product launches, and business networking events held concurrently across the four-day exhibition. Throughout the exhibition, other highlights include the Future City Ideas Competition, ARCHITALENT Competition (ASEAN Level), PAM Members’ Night, ARCHIDEX Nite and Business and Exhibitors Receptions. ARCHIDEX will also feature Strategic Partners such as Milwaukee Tool Malaysia, Topmix Resources Sdn Bhd, Ideal Standard & Armitage Shanks and X’traseal.

According to Bursa Malaysia, foreign funds emerged as net buyers in plantations (+RM368 million), utilities (+RM230 million), and industrial (+RM202 million) sectors. "Local institutions added RM140 million, while local retailers added RM71 million in May," it added. On the plantation sector, Bursa said foreign investors further increased their stakes in plantation stocks with inflow of RM368 million (April: RM246 million), but local institutions offloaded RM327 million. The top five selections for local institutions, on the other hand, were Westports Holdings Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Public Bank Bhd and Genting Bhd. As for local retailers, they preferred Top Glove Corp Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, and RHB Bank.

ALOR SETAR: A retiree lost RM220,500 in a love scam after getting to know a “doctor” through social media. The 60-year-old woman from Pendang said she had befriended a man who introduced himself as “Amran Mohammad Ali” through Facebook in November last year, said Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Elias Omar. He added that the woman deposited the money into seven separate accounts via 51 ATM transactions between December 2021 and May this year. She lodged a police report on Sunday at the Pendang district police headquarters, he said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. He also advised the public to check bank accounts or suspicious telephone numbers through the website http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 14): Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd has completed the first physical delivery under the East Malaysia Crude Palm Oil Futures (FEPO) contract in Sarawak last Friday (June 10). Bintulu Port group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Mohammad Medan Abdullah said the first physical delivery marked a new milestone for Biport Bulkers. “As the biggest palm oil terminal in Sarawak, Biport Bulkers handles more than 91% of total palm oil export in Sarawak and 24% of the total Malaysian palm oil export. Meanwhile, Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association chairman Eric Kiu Kwong Seng said: “With Bintulu Port's world-class logistical infrastructure, Sarawak producers are now able to sell their crude palm oil on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives platform, which is accessible electronically and globally. Bursa said it has now completed physical deliveries under the FEPO contract in all three PTIs in East Malaysia, namely Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Bintulu.

"Yu will give the order to my department after the client agreed with the exchange rate given. My department later would execute the foreign exchange order given by Yu, after the customer confirmed the exchange," said the 25th witness. However, Rosliza said Yu did not mention specifically the identity of the customer for the account she was handling as all transactions used code names. Yu who is an important witness in the breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of position involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds against Najib. Najib, 68, who is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3bil 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering for the same amount.

There is an accounting loss, but for the company, it will be good going forward. Will KNM be worth anything after the sale of Borsig? In fact, the issue plaguing the company for the last 10 years has been the high debt level, high interest costs. In two years’ time, it will be a cash-rich engineering company. So basically, you are saying this sale is a good deal for KNM?

This is that movie.”So begins “Lightyear,” a new Pixar release that takes a meta approach to the animation studio’s flagship franchise. It isn’t a prequel to “Toy Story,“ exactly, but instead presents the movie that inspired Buzz Lightyear toys in the first place. So should “Lightyear“ have been a feature film or a Pixar short? And, ironically, it’s the first Pixar film in more than two years to debut exclusively in theaters. So it may be a bit of a buzzkill to call “Lightyear” — the biggest kids movie to come along in a while — a failed mission.

MORE and more investors are worried about a sharp slowdown in the global economy as strong stagflation risk hammering growth, compounded by higher interest rates and tighter financial conditions. The pace of growth will be around 2.9% in 2023 to 2024 and many countries are likely to face recession, it added. It is not an easy task for the Fed to suppress inflation while averting a hard landing or recession. The 1981 to 1982 US recession was triggered by tight monetary policy in an effort to fight mounting inflation. The eurozone’s subdued economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 is leaning more to downside risks with a recession risk rising.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 14): Sapura Energy Bhd and 22 of its wholly-owned subsidiaries have obtained a nine-month extension of the restraining order (RO) from the High Court against their creditors. Besides Sapura Energy, the other companies which have sought the extended RO are Sapura Marine Ventures Sdn Bhd, Sapura Geosurvey Sdn Bhd, Sapura Drilling Probadi Sdn Bhd, Sapura Subsea Services Sdn Bhd, Sapura Geosciences Sdn Bhd, Sapura Subsea Corporation, Sapura Engineering (Offshore) Sdn Bhd, Sarku Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, Sapura Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd, Sapura Fabrication Sdn Bhd, Sapura Engineering Sdn Bhd, Sapura Offshore Sdn Bhd, Sapura Petroleum Ventures Sdn Bhd, Sapura 1200 Ltd, Sapura Geotechnics Sdn Bhd, Sapura Pinewell Sdn Bhd, Sapura TMC Sdn Bhd, Sapura 3500 Ltd, Sapura Dana SPV Pte Ltd, Sapura Nautilus Sdn Bhd, Sapura 900 Pte Ltd and Sapura Drilling Pte Ltd — which are all wholly-owned units of Sapura Energy. Sapura Energy said it “is continuing to engage with the remaining minority MCF financiers with a view to agreeing a standstill with such MCF financiers in short order”. The company further said that creditors of each applicant (Sapura Energy and its wholly-owned units) are required to submit respective proof of debt on or before June 30 this year as ordered by the High Court. Earlier this month, Sapura Energy announced former Velesto Energy Bhd president Rohaizad Darus and Lim Fu Yen as directors of the Practice Note 17 or cash-strapped company, effective June 1.

Malaysia’s proposed subsidy reform intends to replace blanket fuel subsidies with a targeted system to help those most affected by rising fuel prices. Fundamentally, governments struggle to address the vexsome political economy behind fuel subsidy reform of overcoming resistance from those who benefit from the status quo — typically the richer segments of society. Both countries established inter-ministerial task forces on energy subsidy reform. These efforts helped the government secure a broad mandate to start energy subsidy reforms in 2014, culminating in a fuel subsidy phase-out in 2019. Coordination of government programmes supporting well-being and energy affordability spread across ministries can radically improve effectiveness and prevent reversals of energy subsidy reform.

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO/TAIPEI (June 13): China's semiconductor industry is showing signs of flourishing even in the face of Biden administration efforts to counter its growth, raising alarm bells in Washington. President Joe Biden then inherited a set of rules aimed at restricting some Chinese companies' access to technology. Some US chipmakers have expressed concerns that Chinese companies are paying above-market rates to obtain the machinery. If at any point we found evidence of preferencing Chinese companies, then we would take action to address it immediately." The major US chip-equipment makers, which may receive federal chip funding, are still unlikely to give up the Chinese market willingly.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 29.12 points to 1,464.83 from Friday's close of 1,493.95. Total turnover rose to 3.27 billion units worth RM2.26 billion compared to 2.26 billion units worth RM1.69 billion on Friday. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 240.22 points to 16,179.91, the Plantation Index lost 213.74 points to 7,382.91 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 4.51 points easier at 188.82. Main Market volume expanded to 1.83 billion shares worth RM2.02 billion from 1.35 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion on Friday. ACE Market volume increased to 759.65 million shares worth RM144.19 million from 509.05 million shares worth RM158.21 million last Friday.

PETALING JAYA: Data leaks are a threat to national security and those culpable should be made accountable, says the National Patriots Association (Patriot). In response to The Star’s articles on data leaks, Patriot president Brig-Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji urged a permanent and effective solution to the issue. “This is not the first time we read about such grave security breaches. “This cannot be and Patriot demands a permanent, effective and dependable resolve from all those in office charged with the responsibility to safeguard the citizens and the nation. He said it was worrisome as the data could be accessed easily using Google search engine with the need of a high-tech hacking wizard.