IMF eyes ‘turning point’ for world economy as growth bottoms
Global growth remains weak, but it may be at a turning point. The US is expected to grow 1.4%, 0.4 percentage point more than in the prior projection, amid resilient domestic demand. China and India will account for about half of world growth in 2023, Gourinchas said. The World Bank is also more pessimistic than the IMF on growth in advanced economies and European economies, he said. Read also:For Asean countries, IMF sees slower global growth outweighing China reopeningGlobal inflation fight far from over, IMF chief economist says
Source:The Edge Markets
January 31, 2023 20:59 UTC
Maybank’s subscription of Adani Enterprises’ shares said to be for IHC
Maybank’s clarification came after various media reported last week that Maybank Securities was allocated a stake in Adani Enterprises’ US$2.5 billion (RM10.6 billion) secondary share offering. The report came out just before the secondary share sale by Adani Enterprises began for retail and institutional investors last Friday (Jan 27). The secondary share sale is reported to be India’s largest. As at 4.05pm, Adani Enterprises’ share price was trading at 2,767.40 rupees — down 18.3% from 3,388.95 rupees last Wednesday but slightly higher than last Friday’s close of 2,761.45 rupees. Adani Enterprises aims to fund capital expenditure and pay off some of its debts from the proceeds of the share sale.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 31, 2023 08:53 UTC
Anwar tells Goldman to pay up on 1MDB settlement
The abuse of the sovereign state fund was made possible because of “complicity” from institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Anwar told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in his first interview with international media since becoming prime minister. The Malaysian government in 2018 turned its attention to Goldman Sachs for its work raising US$6.5 billion in 2012 and 2013 for 1MDB, formally known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The settlement announced in July 2020 called for Goldman Sachs to pay US$2.5 billion while guaranteeing the return of US$1.4 billion of 1MDB assets seized by authorities around the world, in exchange for Malaysia dropping charges against the bank. We have to move on.”A Goldman Sachs spokesman referred Bloomberg News to the firm’s 10Q filing when reached for comment. At the time of its filing, Goldman Sachs had said the parties had a three-month window to try and resolve the dispute.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 31, 2023 06:56 UTC
Three killed by Russian shelling of Kherson - officials
KYIV (Reuters) - Three people were killed by Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Sunday that damaged a hospital and a school, the regional administration said. "Today's Russian shelling injured nine people: three people died (two men and one woman), six were injured," the administration wrote on the Telegram app. "As a result of enemy shelling, a number of civil infrastructure objects were damaged: the Kherson Regional Clinical Hospital, a school, a bus station, a post office, a bank, and residential buildings," it wrote in an earlier post. Kherson was occupied by Russian troops from the early days of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine until its recapture by Kyiv's forces in November. Since its liberation, the city has regularly been shelled from Russian positions across the Dnipro river.
Source:The Star
January 30, 2023 01:00 UTC
Bursa likely to stage rebound in coming week, say dealers
Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index increased 175.15 points to 5,731.23, and the FBM 70 Index advanced 253.19 points to 13,759.84. Weekly turnover fell to 11.21 billion units worth RM6.12 billion, against 14.28 billion units worth RM9.63 billion last week. The Main Market volume shrank to 7.23 billion shares valued at RM4.95 billion, from 8.87 billion shares valued at RM7.42 billion a week ago. Warrant volume slipped to 951.90 million units worth RM130.73 million, from 1.52 billion units worth RM294.96 million previously. The ACE Market volume declined to 3.02 billion shares worth RM1.04 billion, from 3.88 billion shares worth RM1.91 billion last week.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 28, 2023 16:47 UTC
It won’t take much for ECB to crush rate-cut bets next week
And while the market is pricing about 30 basis points of rate cuts between September 2023 and March 2024, those bets are overdone, she said. Traders are less certain that the BOE will deliver a half-point hike next week, with swaps indicating a 90% probability. ECB officials including Gediminas Simkus have stressed risks around the stubbornness of core inflation, remarking this week that 50-basis-point rate hikes “must be taken unequivocally”. Swaps linked to US central bank meetings imply that traders expect almost 50 basis points of rate cuts by year end. “Their job is to convince markets that the rate cuts that have been priced have no place to be there,” he said.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 28, 2023 14:05 UTC
Intel gives one of its grimmest forecasts ever, slamming shares
(Jan 27): Intel Corp gave one of the gloomiest quarterly forecasts in its history after a personal-computer slump ravaged the chipmaker’s business, sending shares tumbling and further setting back turnaround efforts. Intel shares fell 9.3% on Friday (Jan 27) in premarket trading following the announcement. That would help Intel shore up its finances, which were already stretched by ambitious plans to upgrade its technology. The PC market will be a particular weak spot, shrinking to the lower end of Intel’s range of predictions — or about 270 million units. Intel still dominates the market for processors used in servers, with a share of more than 70%.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 27, 2023 18:15 UTC
Stand guard against gout
Choose foods that reduce uric acid in the body. These include tofu, vegetables, and specific seafood such as salmon, tuna, white fish or tilapia and lean cuts of chicken. Avoid alcohol and sugary beveragesSwitch to black or green tea, coconut water, lemon infused water and unsweetened barley. Drink at least eight glasses of water a dayThis will help flush out uric acid from the body, which in turn will reduce the risk of gout attacks. Be mindful of portion controlEating too much can trigger a gout attack so plate up wisely.
Source:New Strait Times
January 27, 2023 02:16 UTC
Blast kills at least 50 in north central Nigeria -officials
BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Dozens of cattle herders and bystanders were killed and several injured by a suspected bomb blast in Nigeria's north central region, a state government official and spokesperson of the national cattle breeders said on Wednesday. The incident happened on Tuesday night between Nasarawa and Benue states in north central Nigeria. Nasarawa governor Abdullahi Sule did not say how many people were killed, but told reporters that a bomb blast was responsible for the deaths. North central Nigeria, also known as the Middle Belt, is prone to violence due to clashes between Fulani pastoralists and farmers, who are mainly Christian, which is often painted as ethno-religious conflict. The governor's spokesperson Abubakar Ladan told Reuters that mass burial for those killed were held earlier on Wednesday.
Source:The Star
January 26, 2023 01:38 UTC
Covid-19 Watch: 132 new cases bring total to 5,035,205
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 132 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday (Jan 25), says the Health Ministry. According to the ministry's KKMNow portal, 130 of the new Covid-19 infections in the country were local transmissions, while there were 2 imported cases. This brings the total number of Covid-19 infections in the country to 5,035,205 cases since the pandemic began. A total of 1 death was recorded on Wednesday with no cases of brought in dead, bringing the total to 36,933.
Source:The Star
January 26, 2023 01:07 UTC
Anwar: No more racist or unfair policies
PUTRAJAYA: Policies that marginalise minority communities will not be allowed to be implemented under the current administration, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says. He said this leadership would continue to protect the people from racism and would end any attempt to use political identity to split the people. There were issues that hurt the feelings of the people in the two regions, some of which were valid while others involved sentiments. Without political will, governance and transparency, injustice will persist,” said Anwar. On the long-drawn issue of fighting corruption, he said: “Effective measures against corruption must include a comprehensive approach in law and community awareness.
Source:The Star
January 20, 2023 01:40 UTC
Bank Negara surprises market, maintains OPR at 2.75%
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) surprised the market by maintaining the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 2.75%. All but one of 27 economists in a Reuters poll forecast Bank Negara to hike its OPR to 3.00% today. In a statement, Bank Negara said the global economy continued to be weighed down by elevated cost pressures, higher interest rates, and COVID-19-related disruptions in China. Coming off a strong performance in 2022, growth in 2023 is expected to moderate amid a slower global economy,” Bank Negara said. “The MPC will continue to calibrate the monetary policy settings that balance the risks to domestic inflation and sustainable growth,” Bank Negara said.
Source:The Star
January 19, 2023 10:52 UTC
Auditor finds Serba Dinamik has unverified assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses totalling over RM12 bil
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd has unverified assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses amounting to RM12.43 billion, according to accountant Jason Sia Sze Wan from Nexia SSY PLT, the group's external auditor. By breakdown, Sia listed under assets an unverified property, plant and equipment of RM1.99 billion, unverified inventories of RM1.59 billion, as well as unverified trade and other receivables of RM1.59 billion. He also indicated RM1.35 billion of unverified revenue and RM1.62 billion of unverified cost of contracts with customers. “We do not express an opinion on the accompanying financial statements of the group and of the company,” Sia said. Serba Dinamik finally submitted its 2022 annual report to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on Thursday after much delay since Oct 31, 2022.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 14, 2023 07:23 UTC
Policy on 5G implementation to be tabled in Cabinet before end of first quarter 2023 — Fahmi
KOTA BHARU (Jan 13): The policy on the implementation of the 5G network by Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) will be tabled in the Cabinet before the end of the first quarter of this year, said Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil. Fahmi said he had met with the Ministry of Finance, telecommunication operators and DNB to get feedback on the matter. In the meantime, Fahmi said discussions were underway to establish a communication control centre to overcome internet access issues in certain areas. He said the ministry was looking into tabling a Cabinet Ministers’ memorandum related to the matter and hoped it would be resolved this year. Meanwhile, he said he would hand over donations amounting to RM500,000 to flood-affected residents in the state.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 13, 2023 18:53 UTC
NationGate breaches RM1 mark, jumps 11%
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): NationGate Holdings Bhd’s share price breached the RM1 mark and jumped 11% in early morning trade on Friday (Jan 13), merely a day after a firm start on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia. At the time of writing, the stock was up five sen to RM1.05 a share, with 89.96 million shares done. The electronics manufacturing service provider debuted on the ACE Market on Thursday, closing at RM1 against its initial public offering (IPO) price of 38 sen — a premium of 163.16%. Its trading volume was 654.92 million, while its market capitalisation stood at RM2.07 billion, making it the largest IPO on the ACE Market to date. “While NationGate can offer high-mix low-volume and low-mix high volume production set-ups, its strategic diversification towards recession-proof segments has borne fruition, especially amid the current economic downturn," the research house added.
Source:The Edge Markets
January 13, 2023 05:24 UTC