At 9.44 am, the counter rose 1.0 sen to RM1.38 with 1.24 million shares changing hands. — Bernama pic
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 ― Solarvest Holdings Bhd’s shares on Bursa Malaysia went up in the early session today after the group announced that its wholly-owned unit, Atlantic Blue Sdn Bhd (ABSB), secured a RM175 million large-scale solar (LSS) project in Chuping, Perlis.
At 9.44 am, the counter rose 1.0 sen to RM1.38 with 1.24 million shares changing hands.
In a statement Wednesday, Solarvest said the contract was awarded by Classic Solar Farm Sdn Bhd, adding that under the contract, ABSB would undertake the main engineering, procurement, construction and commission works for the 50-megawatt (MW) solar farm.
Group chief executive officer Davis Chong Chun Shiong said with this win, the company’s unbilled orderbook had increased to RM583 million.
“This project is expected to be the largest solar power plant in Perlis. The clean energy generation will offset approximately 78,450 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year upon commencement,” he said.
Chong said currently, the group is collectively tendering for approximately 1,000-megawatt peak (MWp) worth of projects in Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines. ― Bernama
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.58 points to 1,600.49 from yesterday’s close of 1,586.89. — Reuters pic
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 ― Bursa Malaysia rebounded from yesterday’s losses to open higher today, boosted by renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights as investors took advantage of the lower prices, dealers said.
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.58 points to 1,600.49 from yesterday’s close of 1,586.89
It opened 1.42 points better at 1,588.31.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 269 to 219, while 304 counters were unchanged, 1,426 untraded and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 501.35 million units worth RM245.16 million.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects the local stocks to continue to eke out gains after taking a breather, as investors’ confidence could be boosted by the Finance Ministry’s pre-budget statement.
It also noted that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opec+) is expected to stick to the existing gradual output hike despite having revised the 2022 demand outlook higher, which may boost the oil price in the long run.
“Investors may continue targeting the recovery theme sectors today such as building material, banking and consumers following the pullback yesterday.
“The technology stocks may track the Nasdaq’s overnight gains, and solar-related stocks may see higher trading interest as solar photovoltaic (PV) contracts are being awarded to several companies,” it said.
Among the market heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank slipped 1.0 sen each to RM8.29 and RM4.07, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals added 2.0 sen to RM8.31, Tenaga Nasional gained 10 sen to RM10.44 and IHH Healthcare improved 9.0 sen to RM6.42.
Of the actives, Ho Wah Genting went up 7.0 sen to 37 sen, TFP Solution advanced 1.0 sen to 23 sen, but TA Win and Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen each to 16.5 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index bagged 28.76 points to 11,590.10, the FBMT 100 Index was 32.44 points higher at 11,297.48, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 52.43 points to 12,751.52.
The FBM 70 increased 15.23 points to 15,023.68 and the FBM ACE rose 2.46 points to 7,218.48.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index went up 18.30 points to 6,775.89 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.01 of-a-point to 199.58, while the Financial Services Index declined 6.28 points to 15,390.26. ― Bernama
At 9.04am, the local note rose to 4.1465/1500 versus the greenback from yesterday's close of 4.1535/1550. ― Reuters pic
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 ― The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today as investors remained cautious ahead of the United States (US) economic data disclosure, a dealer said.
At 9.04am, the local note rose to 4.1465/1500 versus the greenback from yesterday's close of 4.1535/1550.
The dealer said investors are likely to be content to play the range in the major currency space while waiting for the US non-farm payroll data which is due to be released tomorrow.
He said the latest US ADP employment report also highlights the problems employers are facing in filling up vacancies, which could start to raise the question of whether the economy would make substantial progress in the labour market over the next few months.
“Weakness in the US labour market is becoming a consistent theme across the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) regional surveys.
“Employers are still having trouble filling vacancies and that will complicate the economy from hitting the Fed's substantial progress goal,” he said.
At the opening bell, the local note was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.0836/0864 from 3.0854/0867 at yesterday's close and appreciated against the British pound to 5.7114/7162 from 5.7144/7164 previously.
However, the ringgit fell against the Japanese yen to 3.7702/7738 from 3.7663/7677 and weakened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9107/9148 from yesterday’s close of 4.9099/9116. ― Bernama
The dollar was dented overnight by a rising euro, which climbed to a one-month high of US$1.1857 (RM4.94) after a survey showed strong European manufacturing growth coupled with inflationary pressure from supply-chain snarls. — Reuters pic
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SINGAPORE, Sept 2 ― The dollar loitered around multi-week lows today, pressured by softer-than-expected US labour data as traders awaited a fuller jobs readout, which is expected to guide the timing of Federal Reserve's pullback in bond buying.
The greenback was also dented overnight by a rising euro, which climbed to a one-month high of US$1.1857 (RM4.94) after a survey showed strong European manufacturing growth coupled with inflationary pressure from supply-chain snarls.
The euro also touched its highest in a month at ¥130.44 overnight and made a six-week peak of 86.02 pence. The Australian and New Zealand dollars struck more than two-week highs after the US private payrolls data showed 374,000 hirings last month against a forecast for 613,000.
“The big miss was too big ignore,” said Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at National Australia Bank, since it could point Friday's figures falling short of forecasts and prompt traders to push out expectations for Fed asset purchase tapering.
“Bad news in the labour market is good news for risk assets given the punchbowl will remain well liquefied for a bit longer.”
Sterling also edged higher on the softer dollar, but found the going heavy into resistance around US$1.38. It last sat at US$1.3770 and elsewhere moves were only slight in Asia morning trade, reflecting caution about Friday's jobs numbers.
The Australian dollar held at US$0.7361 after making a high of US$0.7384 overnight. The New Zealand dollar was firmly supported above US$0.70, last buying US$0.7063, as traders' firm bets on a rate hike in New Zealand next month.
The safe-havens of yen and the Swiss franc did not earn much of a boost overnight and were both broadly steady. The yen last traded at 109.97 per dollar and the franc at 91.52 per dollar.
Ahead today are Australian and US trade figures, US jobless claim figures and Euro zone producer prices, however the week's major release is tomorrow's US non-farm payrolls data.
Fed chair Jerome Powell said last week that the jobs recovery would determine the timing of the asset purchase tapering.
The dollar has also been on the back foot since even before then as doubts about the tapering timeline crept in. The dollar index was steady at 92.497 on Thursday after falling to a four-week low of 92.376 overnight. It has lost about 1.4 per cent since it hit a nine-month high about two weeks ago.
The median payrolls forecast of 80 economists polled by Reuters is for 728,000 jobs to have been created in August, though as with previous months the forecast range varies enormously and stretches from 375,000 to over a million.
“Given the dollar flow, one could argue that the market is now positioned for NFPs to come in modestly below expectations ― perhaps in the 550k/600k range,” said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone in Melbourne. “But that is just my guesstimate. Economists' ability to forecast payrolls is low.” ― Reuters
Apple yesterday said it will drop that rule starting early next year as part of the conclusion of an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). ― AFP pic
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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 2 ― Apple Inc will loosen App Store rules that have banned companies like Netflix Inc from providing customers a link to create a paid account to bypass Apple's in-app purchase commissions, the company said late yesterday.
It is the second concession to regulators and companies in less than a week as the iPhone maker faces legal, regulatory and legislative challenges to the App Store, which forms the core of its US$53.8 billion (RM223.2 billion) services segment.
But Apple will still ban developers from taking other forms of payment inside apps on the iPhone, the key practice that Fortnite creator Epic Games, Spotify Technology and Match Group have said they want to end.
Apple collects commissions between 15 per cent and 30 per cent from in-app purchases and erects barriers to keep developers from steering users toward payment alternatives. One such rule had barred “reader apps” ― where users consume content that they purchased elsewhere ― from providing a link to sign up for a paid account.
Apple on Wednesday said it will drop that rule starting early next year as part of the conclusion of an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC).
Apple said it agreed with the JFTC to let developers of these apps share a single link to their website to help users set up and manage their accounts. Though the change is part of an agreement with the JFTC, Apple said it will be applied globally.
Previously, Apple had allowed a link for account creation but only if creating the account did not involve entering payment information. That meant companies like Netflix, which has no free tier of service and requires payment at signup, could not provide a link.
Last week, Apple reached a deal with a group of developers in the United States in a class-action lawsuit as the iPhone maker awaits a ruling by the same US judge in a separate App Store dispute brought by Epic Games. In that agreement, Apple ended a ban on developers' telling users in email messages outside an app about payment alternatives. ― Reuters
After seven straight months of gains, the pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.5 per cent to end at 473.12 points, and was within striking distance of its record high of 476.16. — Reuters pic
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FRANKFURT, Sept 2 ― European stocks closed higher yesterday as fresh signs of weakness in Asian economies were offset by hopes for more stimulus, while investors shook off concerns about rising inflation.
After seven straight months of gains, the pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.5 per cent to end at 473.12 points, and was within striking distance of its record high of 476.16.
Retail and travel & leisure stocks were the top sectoral gainers, rising 1.8 per cent each.
Airline SAS gained 2.4 per cent after reporting a smaller quarterly loss as air travel gradually picked up.
Consumer-exposed sectors benefited from data that showed euro zone unemployment fell as expected in July.
Spain's Inditex, which owns fashion brand Zara, was among the best performing retail stocks after JP Morgan forecast strong second-quarter results for the firm. The stock rose 3.1 per cent.
A survey also showed euro zone manufacturing growth remained strong in August, but supply chain issues drove up prices and fed into inflation, which could affect monetary policy in the near term.
Investors were unsettled after data on Tuesday showed euro zone inflation surged to a 10-year-high in August, while an European Central Bank policymaker called on the bank to reduce its emergency bond purchases as soon as the next quarter.
The bloc's banks continued to benefit from rising government bond yields.
“Elevated inflation in the US and Europe, weak retail sales in Germany and a slowdown in China all suggest that the market should be factoring in a temporary slowdown in economic activity,” Sebastien Galy, senior macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management, said.
“What the market is focused on instead is that liquidity should remain very ample from the People's Bank of China to a slow pace of tapering from the Fed and eventually one from the ECB.”
Supermarket group Carrefour was the worst performer on the STOXX 600, down 5.5 per cent as luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault sold the 5.7 per cent stake he owned in the company.
French spirits maker Pernod Ricard rose 3.7 per cent after it posted a stronger-than-expected rise in full-year operating profit, driven by a strong rebound in demand in China and the United States.
French diagnostics specialist BioMerieux climbed 4.0 per cent after it confirmed its full-year earnings target. ― Reuters
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia agreed in July to phase out record output cuts by adding 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil a month. — Reuters pic
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LONDON, Sept 2 ― Opec and its allies yesterday agreed to stick to their existing policy of gradual oil output increases, despite revising its 2022 demand outlook upwards and ongoing US pressure to raise production more quickly.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia agreed in July to phase out record output cuts by adding 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil a month.
Yesterday's decision means that Opec+ will release 400,000 bpd to the market in October again, after already doing so in September. The next Opec+ meeting is scheduled for October 4.
“While the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to cast some uncertainty, market fundamentals have strengthened and OECD stocks continue to fall as the recovery accelerates,” Opec+ said in a statement.
Opec+ experts on Tuesday revised the 2022 oil demand growth forecast to 4.2 million bpd, up from a previous 3.28 million bpd, potentially building the case for higher output in future.
The 2022 outlook looks optimistic based on 2021 data. Opec+ expects demand to grow by 5.95 million bpd after a record drop of about 9 million bpd in 2020 due to the pandemic, but demand only rose by some 3 million bpd in the first half of 2021.
“Demand has disappointed relative to lofty expectations and there are still headwinds, particularly in Asia. We only expect demand to rise back to 2019 levels in the second half of 2022,” said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects think-tank.
The United States has called for speedier output increases by Opec+ as benchmark Brent crude traded above US$70 per barrel, close to multi-year highs.
The Opec+ joint technical committee (JTC) on Tuesday presented an updated report on the oil market in 2021-2022.
Opec+ sources said on Tuesday that this report, which has not been made public, forecast a 0.9 million bpd deficit this year as global demand recovers.
The report had initially forecast a surplus of 2.5 million bpd in 2022 but this was later revised to 1.6 million bpd due to stronger demand, the sources said.
As a result, commercial oil inventories in the OECD, a group of mostly developed countries, would remain below the 2015-2019 average until May 2022 rather than the initial forecast for January 2022, the JTC presentation showed, the sources said.
Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen said it was not yet clear “whether demand will be able to grow as quickly as Opec+ and the market predicts, given the risk of new lockdowns to fight the unresolved Covid-mutant spread.” ― Reuters
MSCI's all-country world index rose 0.32 per cent to end the session at 743.67, its fourth consecutive record close, while the broad STOXX Europe 600 index closed up 0.48 per cent. — Reuters pic
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NEW YORK, Sept 2 ― World stock markets closed at new highs yesterday as investors looked beyond weak economic data that weighed on the dollar to focus on the likely continuation of massive central bank stimulus measures.
MSCI's all-country world index climbed to its fourth straight closing high, while the Nasdaq Composite hit a fresh record close. The Euro STOXX 600 came close to breaching an all-time peak set three weeks ago and the S&P 500 almost reached a new intraday high.
The upbeat mood for equities came despite signs that Asia's factory activity lost momentum in August and that US private employers hired far fewer workers than expected last month, likely due to a resurgence in Covid-19 infections.
But the US labour market continues to recover, with private payrolls increasing last month by 374,000 jobs, or 48,000 more than in July, the ADP National Employment Report showed.
US manufacturing activity also unexpectedly picked up in August amid strong order growth, providing markets a sunny side to cheer.
Many investors and other market participants expect central bank stimulus measures to remain and companies to report strong earnings despite a deceleration in economic activity.
“We're in the moment where it's still semi-Goldilocks - there is the inflation element that is still for the moment being discarded by central bankers,” said Olivier Marciot, senior portfolio manager with Unigestion.
“Earnings are very good, macro is very strong and still the central banks are remaining very accommodative,” Marciot said.
MSCI's all-country world index rose 0.32 per cent to end the session at 743.67, its fourth consecutive record close, while the broad STOXX Europe 600 index closed up 0.48 per cent.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.33 per cent, lifted by tech powerhouses such as Apple Inc, which set a new high, while the S&P 500 pared earlier gains to close up just 0.03 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.14 per cent.
The dollar traded near its lowest point in nearly three weeks versus major peers as investors await the nonfarm payrolls report tomorrow for clues to when the Federal Reserve begins paring its stimulus. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said an improving labour market is a prerequisite for tapering to begin.
Worries persist, however, that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is weighing on the economy, leading some to lower their estimates for U.S. jobs data on Friday, said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.
“The recovery has been uneven but if nonfarm payrolls should also disappoint, that would seemingly close the door to an imminent taper and keep the dollar in a bit of a funk,” he said.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, fell 0.14 per cent to 92.52.
The euro rose 0.26 per cent to US$1.1838 (RM4.89), while the yen traded up 0.02 per cent at US$110.0400.
An Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey highlighted persistent problems securing raw materials, a situation worsened by disruptions caused by the latest Covid-19 wave, primarily in Southeast Asia, as well as ports congestion in China.
The ISM index added to skepticism that the Fed will move any time soon on tapering its bond-buying program, Manimbo said.
“It's a vote of confidence in the Fed's dovish stance,” he said.
Powell tried last week to distance the two concepts of the Fed tapering its bond purchases from when it begins to raise interest rates, said Kevin Flanagan, head of fixed-income strategy at WisdomTree Investments Inc.
“You have to give the Fed kudos; they've done a very good job with their forward guidance with respect to tapering,” Flanagan said. “They've met their criteria on the inflation side, and now it's on the jobs number.”
Markets are likely to remain quiet until tomorrow, with an attempt by bond traders to push yields on the 10-year Treasury above the 1.32 per cent to 1.33 per cent level unsuccessful, he said.
The benchmark US note's yield traded flat at 1.302 per cent.
Government bond yields across the euro area touched their highest levels in around six weeks, pushed up by unease over the future pace of European Central Bank bond purchases.
Germany's 10-year Bund yield briefly touched its highest level in just over six weeks at -0.354 per cent before steadying at around -0.365 per cent.
Oil prices traded little changed after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to stick to their existing policy of gradual crude output increases.
Brent futures fell 4 cents to settle at US$71.59 a barrel while US crude rose 9 cents to settle at US$68.59 a barrel.
US gold futures settled down 0.1 per cent at US$1,816 an ounce. ― Reuters
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.2 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 35,312.53, the S&P 500 gained 1.41 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 4,524.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 50.15 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 15,309.38. ― Reuters pic
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NEW YORK, Sept 2 ― The Nasdaq closed yesterday at a record high, and the S&P 500 rose but just missed a fresh peak, as September kicked off with renewed buying of technology stocks and private payrolls data, which supported the case for dovish monetary policy.
Technology stocks, which tend to benefit from a low-rate environment, finished higher. Apple Inc rose 0.4 per cent to its second-highest close, and Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Google-owner Alphabet Inc all advanced between 0.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent.
Utilities and real estate ― sectors considered as bond-proxies or defensive ― were the top performers.
“Given there's going to be some choppiness in the economic recovery because of Covid, people will look for where they can find the best future growth potential,” said Chris Graff, co-chief investment officer at RMB Capital.
Wall Street's main indexes have hit record highs recently, with the benchmark S&P 500 notching seven straight monthly gains as investors shrugged off risks around a rise in new coronavirus infections and hoped for the Fed to remain dovish in its policy stance.
Each new data release though is viewed by investors through the prism of whether it could push the Fed to taper sooner rather than later.
A report by ADP, published ahead of the US government's more comprehensive employment report on Friday, showed private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in August.
Another set of data yesterday showed US manufacturing activity unexpectedly picked up in August amid strong order growth, but a measure of factory employment dropped to a nine-month low, likely as workers remained scarce.
“We've got the jobs report on Friday, but what's become more important is the job openings report next week and the CPI release after that, so a lot about employment and inflation in the next couple of weeks which will reset people's expectations for tapering and interest rates,” Graff added.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.2 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 35,312.53, the S&P 500 gained 1.41 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 4,524.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 50.15 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 15,309.38.
Falling 1.5 per cent on the day, and down for the third straight session, was the energy index.
Crude prices were flat after Opec and its allies agreed to stick to their existing policy of gradual output increases. However, the full extent of damage to US energy infrastructure from Hurricane Ida is still being established
More than 80 per cent of oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico remains offline, while analysts have warned that restarting Louisiana refineries shut by the storm could take weeks and cost operators tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
PBF Energy Inc, whose 190,000 barrel-per-day Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery lost power following the storm, slumped 6.8 per cent yesterday, taking its losses this week to 11.2 per cent.
Volume on US exchanges was 9.81 billion shares, compared with the 8.99 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
The S&P 500 posted 55 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 131 new highs and 17 new lows. ― Reuters
