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Monday, June 5, 2023

S Korea’s foreign reserves fall in May

SEOUL: South Korea’s foreign reserves marked the first fall in three months last month owing to a lower conversion value of non-US dollar assets, central bank data showed Monday, reported Xinhua.

Foreign currency reserves came to US$420.98 billion at the end of May, down US$5.70 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It turned downward in three months as the strong dollar decreased the conversion value of non-dollar assets.

The dollar index, which gauges the dollar value versus six major peers, advanced 2.6 per cent last month.

The country’s foreign reserves were composed of US$378.96 billion of securities, US$17.82 billion of deposits, US$14.71 billion of special drawing rights, US$4.79 billion of gold bullion and US$4.69 billion of the IMF position.

South Korea was the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of April, unchanged from a month earlier.-Bernama



Source: The Sun Daily

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The Green Equilibrium: El Nino – are we ready?

WORLD Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in early May has release statement that there is 60% chance for transition from ENSO-neutral to El Nino between May and July this year. This will increase to 70% between June and August. An 80% chance is placed between July and September this year. WMO also noted that the recent La Nina is unusually long.

Ironically, there had been news reports quoting some government officials stating that the respective states or sectors are prepared to face El Nino that will last until August. However, what we are facing now is Southwest Monsoon. El Nino is just being predicted to form according to WMO. It is also surprising that some states are already facing low dam levels when La Nina (phenomenon that brings more rainfall) just ended first quarter of this year. Dams are designed to withstand dry season and if it does not, you have to go back to the drawing board.

Every storage facility has its own operating manual and most importantly a functioning catchment area. Logging and developments have increase water stress situation by impacting local climate and natural water replenishing ability. It is vital that federal and state agencies remodel raw water ability to ensure we can pass lesser rainfall risk brought by El Nino.

The relevant agencies have to identify current catchment conditions especially if it has been changing over the past years. Inability of raw water storage facility to follow normal operating level by under performing should be investigated. Each storage facility and its corresponding monsoon season must be remodelled with change in catchment areas as well as different reduced rainfall pattern to project El Nino impacts. By carrying out this, we will be able to determine the worst case scenario and prepare to mitigate it.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, in 2015, about 14,586 million cubic metres (mcm) of surface water and 92 mcm of groundwater was abstracted for all use.

Based on 2021 water services industry data for Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan by Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN), 5,761 mcm raw water is abstracted for water treatment and supply. The overall operation records 33.4% of non-revenue water (NRW) where Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang and Perlis are having NRW about 50% or higher. NRW is treated water that is lost in distribution system. In addition to that, Kedah, Kelantan and Perlis have no treated water reserve margin in 2021. Reserve margin is additional treated water capacity after meeting demand. Higher reserve margin helps recovery of water supply and meeting emergency requirement during prolong dry season. The same report also records 65.1% treated water is used by domestic consumers. Thus, an aggregate parameter developed from all variables is needed to prepare to face El Nino.

Raw water level in storage facilities that supply for irrigation and water treatment plants must be tagged with colour coding system to identify reduced raw water level and its corresponding supply reduction or cessation of supply requirements. Before this is done, state water agencies and SPAN must identify the total raw water and treated water used by different category of sectors respectively. These sectors will have to be categorised into different level of critical and non-critical operations.

Awer has suggested normal water level as green and the critical level at brown. Yellow, orange and red are the transition from normal operation to critical operation of raw water storage facilities. State water agencies must develop corresponding response to the transition and identify sectors that will face reduction and cessation of raw water supply according to the colour code. Similarly, SPAN has to carry out reduction and cessation of treated water supply to correspond to raw water colour coding situation by invoking Section 54 or Section 56 of Water Services Industry Act 2006 (WSIA).

By doing this, simple and clear communication can be carried out throughout Malaysia to ease the crisis management. Sabah and Sarawak state governments will have to use its state law and regulations to implement treated water supply reduction and cessation to streamline with colour coding mechanism as it is not part of WSIA model.

Past experiences have shown that messy communication will cause panic consumption. During prolonged dry season, peak demand period will tend to be longer. However, if panic consumption is induced due to in silo implementation, the peak demand period will prolong and cause more discomfort during rationing period.

When unpredictability is high, it is important that Malaysia is prepared to face any risk. A professional management of impending crisis is via mitigated measures. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

This article is contributed by Piarapakaran S, president of the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer), a non-government organisation involved in research and development in the fields of water, energy and environment.



Source: The Sun Daily

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8 Health Dangers of Working on Laptops

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Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on FlexJobs.com. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 92% of households have a computer. And if you’re joining the remote workforce, there’s a good chance that you’re part of that 92% and choosing between working on a laptop or a desktop.



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15 Cities With the Highest Rates of Seniors Living Alone

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Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Safe Step. Globally, living within an extended family household is the most common arrangement for seniors and older individuals. But in the United States, older people are actually more likely to live alone or with a partner than with their own adult children, grandchildren, or other relatives. According to a Pew Research Center study, 27% of U.S.



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Saturday, June 3, 2023

Bursa Malaysia to remain below 1,400 pts due to US, China concerns

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia is expected to remain below its psychological level of 1,400 points next week, with the risk interests of investors continuing to be dictated by economic developments in the US and China.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that trading may remain cautious as investors were still worried over the two economic giants’ growth stories despite the mild recovery seen in the domestic equities at the end of the week due to bargain hunting.

He said the key economic data closely monitored next week would be the trade balances of China and the US.

China will also release the May Caixin services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), while the US will announce April factory orders and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) services index for May.

“We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,380-1,395 for next week,” he told Bernama.

An analyst said the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (Opec+) ministers would meet to decide on their next oil production policy steps on June 4, just a day before the June 5 US debt ceiling deadline.

He said the market projects a possible cut in production by looking at current oil prices, with Brent hovering around US$75 per barrel to boost prices, and this may be good for producer countries like Malaysia and a boost to energy stocks.

During the week, domestic and global risk sentiments have been bearish after China’s factory activity weakened further in May, underlining the economy’s shaky recovery due to volatility generated surrounding US debt ceiling deals.

The US and China are Malaysia’s largest trading partners.

During the week, Bursa Malaysia mainly traded lower.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the FBM KLCI declined 21.72 points to end the week at 1,381.26 from last week’s 1,402.98.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 89.30 points to 10,207.17, the FBMT 100 Index slid 94.18 points to 9,908.45, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 78.17 points to 10,590.86.

In contrast, the FBM 70 Index rose 124.64 points to 13,604.64, and the FBM ACE Index gained 89.36 points to 5,070.26.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 210.48 points to 15,093.95, the Plantation Index lost 130.70 points to 6,624.56, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 4.30 points to 159.78.

The Energy Index was 2.97 points higher at 811.28.

Weekly turnover jumped to 15.20 billion units valued at RM12.90 billion versus 12.60 billion units valued at RM9.06 billion on Friday last week.

The Main Market volume widened to 10.20 billion shares worth RM11.50 billion compared with 8.01 billion shares worth RM7.80 billion in the previous week.

Warrant turnover shrank to 1.42 billion units valued at RM188.45 million from 1.60 billion units valued at RM222.39 million a week ago.

The ACE Market volume increased to 3.57 billion shares worth RM1.21 billion from 2.95 billion shares worth RM875.29 million last week. - Bernama



Source: The Sun Daily

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Ringgit to trade with upward bias versus US dollar next week

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit is expected to trade in cautious mode with an upward bias against the US dollar next week ahead of a decision by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) on its monetary policy.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/ringgit might move cautiously as the Fed is expected to be guarded in its assessment at the upcoming the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 13-14.

“So, tonight’s Nonfarm Payrolls’ (NFP) announcement for May, which is anticipated to slow to 195,000 jobs based on consensus estimates, is likely to set the tone for next week as we progress to the FOMC meeting dates,” he told Bernama.

The immediate resistance level for the ringgit is currently at RM4.5491, he added.

Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes noted that the ringgit could trade a bit stronger due to the market pricing in a Fed pause in June.

“So I’m looking at 4.5675 versus 4.5875 assuming no top side surprise on NFP,” he said.

Meanwhile, the local note was mixed versus a basket of major currencies over the six-day span.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the ringgit was higher against the US dollar at 4.5745/5785 compared with 4.5970/6035 a week earlier.

The local note went up vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9254/9297 from 4.9340/9409 a week earlier.

It was almost flat against the Japanese yen at 3.2957/2989 from 3.2918/2967 previously and weakened against the British pound to 5.7323/7373 from last Friday’s 5.6819/6899.

The ringgit also traded mostly higher against its Asean peers.

It rose against the Thai baht to 13.2402/2591 from 13.2539/2784, appreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 305.0/305.5 from 307.3/307.9 last week and improved vis-a-vis the Philippine peso to 8.18/8.19 from 8.24/8.25 previously.

The ringgit, however, was lower versus the Singapore dollar at 3.4026/4059 from 3.4012/4062 at the end of the preceding week. - Bernama



Source: The Sun Daily

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Why You Should Worry About Using Payment Apps

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A brief run of bank failures recently spooked many savers. But it is your digital payment app that should really make you worry, according to the federal government. Billions of dollars currently stored on well-known payment apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App may not be federally insured, according to a recent notice from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). That stands in sharp...



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10 National Parks That Cost More in 2023 — and 2 That Soon Might

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From purple mountain majesties to crashing waves on ocean beaches, America’s national parks are a true treasure. While many of them charge an entrance or camping fee (and some require reservations), they remain among the best vacation bargains out there. Some national parks have increased their fees in 2023, and two more soon might do the same. Here’s a quick look at which parks are affected and...



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Shopping Secrets Revealed: 6 Tricks the Pros Use to Save Hundreds

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Advertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links on our site, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend. Everybody has one: A friend who’s always finding screaming deals on everything they buy. What do they know that we don’t? As it turns out, plenty. Read on…in about three minutes, you’re going to become a shopping pro...



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15 Thrift Shopping Terms You Need to Know

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Every hobby and profession develops a unique lingo, and it’s no different in the world of secondhand shopping. As a professional thrift shopper and reseller for more than 30 years, I’ve noticed my “colleagues” and I have a language all our own — peppered with weird terms, abbreviations and acronyms. And since Babbel offers no course to become fluent in thrift-shop-speak (what’s the hold-up, people?



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The 10 Most Deadly Jobs in America

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Almost everyone complains about their job on occasion. But if you’re a logger, miner or truck driver, you might have greater concerns than most. These are among the most dangerous jobs in America, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest annual report on fatal occupational injuries, which reflects data from 2021. In total, there were 5,190 work-related deaths recorded in the United...



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This Restaurant Is Offering a ‘Pay When You Die’ Deal

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You can have pizza now, but there will be hell to pay later — much, much later, hopefully. New Zealand-based Hell Pizza is introducing AfterLife Pay, which the chain describes as a “payment scheme” where you win pizza for nothing right now and in exchange agree to write a legally binding IOU into your will — “without any pesky late fees or penalties.” The unique promotion is intended to poke fun...



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