Economy

US: Pending home sales post 5th straight monthly decline in March. Contracts to buy US previously owned homes dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years in March as soaring house prices and mortgage rates reduced the pool of buyers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, fell 1.2% last month to 103.7. That was the fifth straight monthly decline and pushed contracts to the lowest level since May 2020. Pending home sales rose in the Northeast, but fell in the South, Midwest and West. Economists had forecast contracts, which become sales after a month or two, declining 1.6%. Pending home sales dropped 8.2% in March on a YoY basis. Data last week showed sales of previously owned homes tumbled to the lowest level in nearly two years in March. (Reuters)

US: Goods trade deficit hits record high; inventories rise. The US trade deficit in goods widened to a record high in March amid a broad surge in imports, suggesting that trade remained a drag on economic growth in the 1Q. The report from the Commerce Department also showed solid increases in retail and wholesale inventories. But the pace of inventory accumulation was probably not fast enough to provide a boost to GDP growth. Economists expect the government's snapshot of 1Q GDP to show a sharp deceleration in economic growth. The goods trade deficit jumped 17.8% to an all-time of USD125.3bn. (Reuters)

EU: Germany GfK consumer sentiment to fall in May. Germany's consumer confidence is set to decline further to a new historic low in May, survey results from the market research group GfK showed. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index declined more-than-expected to -26.5 in May from -15.7 in April. The expected score was -16.0. High inflation dampened consumers'  purchasing power. Consumers viewed that the risk for the German economy has increased further, and the danger of a recession is assessed as high. This means that hopes of a recovery as a result of the easing of restrictions caused by the pandemic have finally been dashed. Economic and income expectations as well as the propensity to buy logged noticeable losses in April, the survey showed. The economic expectations index fell 7.5 points to -16.4 in April. (RTT)

EU: France consumer confidence weakest since late 2018. French consumer confidence declined to the lowest since late 2018, monthly survey results from the statistical office Insee showed. The consumer sentiment index unexpectedly fell to 88 in April from 90 in March. The reading was expected to advance to 92. The score remained well below its long-term average and hit the lowest reading since Dec 2018. There was a sharp decline in the opportunity to make major purchases in April, while the assessment regarding future savings capacity as well as opportunity to save increased slightly. Consumers' view about future standard of living logged a slight rebound after a sharp fall in March. (RTT)

UK: Retailers expect sales to fall again in May. UK retailers expect sales volume to fall further in May, according to the Distributive Trades Survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry. A net 35% of retailers said sales volumes declined in the year to April, in contrast to a net 9% reporting an increase in March and remained below the long run average of +18%. A net 8% of retailers forecast sales volumes to fall in May, but this was much slower than the current month estimate. The balance for orders placed upon suppliers dropped to -7% in April, the first decline in 13 months, from +3% in March. (RTT)

China: Industrial profits increase in 1Q. China's industrial profits increased in the 1Q despite the challenges posed by the pandemic at the start of the year. Industrial profits grew 8.5% in the 1Q from the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed. Profits were up 5% in the first two months of 2022. In March, industrial profits advanced 10.6% on a yearly basis. According to official estimate, economic growth accelerated to 4.8% in the 1Q from 4.0% in the preceding period. (RTT)

Australia: Inflation jumps 5.1% on year in 1Q. Consumer prices in Australia climbed 5.1% on year in the 1Q of 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said - beating forecasts for an increase of 4.6% and accelerating from 3.5% in the previous three months. On a quarterly basis, inflation jumped 2.1% - again exceeding expectations for a gain of 1.7% and up from 1.3% in the three months prior. The Reserve Bank of Australia's trimmed mean came in at 1.4% on quarter and 3.7% on year, up from 1.0% on quarter and 2.6% on year in the previous quarter. The RBA's weighted median was up 1.0% on quarter and 3.2% on year after rising 0.9% on quarter and 2.7% on year three months earlier. (RTT)

Indonesia: Foreign direct investment surges 32% YoY in 1Q. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia soared 31.8% on a yearly basis in the 1Q in rupiah terms, the country’s investment minister said, boosted by a broader rise in investments in resource processing industries. FDI climbed to IDR147.2trn (USD10.22bn) in the Jan-March quarter, listing Singapore, Hong Kong and China as the biggest sources. Including domestic sources, total investment during the period surged 28.5% from January-March 2021 to IDR282.4trn. The ministry’s data excludes investment in banking and the oil and gas sectors. (Reuters)

Markets

Petronas Gas: Earmarks RM1.4bn capex for 2022, third LNG storage tank expected by year end. Petronas Gas (PetGas) plans to set aside some RM1.4bn in capex for the current year, compared with RM1.2bn last year, as it expects a step-up in maintenance activities for major projects announced last year, in line with its growth aspirations. The five projects for which a final investment decision was made last year are a 42km lateral gas pipeline to Pulau Indah, new oxyalkylate facilities, a new lateral gas pipeline in Sepang, the Southern Peninsular Gas Utilisation expansion, a new compressor station in Kluang and the Terengganu Crude Oil Terminal off-gas rerouting project in Kerteh. (The Edge)

Shin Yang Shipping: Proposes to acquire Piasau Gas for RM22.8m. Shin Yang Shipping Corporation has proposed to acquire 100% of Piasau Gas SB for RM22.8m cash in an acquisition it said would strengthen and complement the shipbuilding activities of the group. The group is acquiring the stake from various parties. Piasau Gas is principally engaged in the business of manufacturing, distribution and marketing of industrial gases, provision of services and maintenance and trading in welding equipment and machinery. (The Edge)

Malaysia Marine: To jointly bid for international projects with Dyna-Mac. Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings (MMHE) and DYNA-Mac Holdings Ltd have formed an alliance to jointly bid for international projects. The companies will undertake this prospect via a consortium. The synergistic partnership will jointly offer one-stop solutions for module fabrication, vessel conversion and integration work as well as other projects of mutual interest. (BTimes)

Propel Global: Bullish about expansion following new structure & capital injection. Propel Global is confident that the new corporate structure and cash reserve arising from a regularisation plan will support expansion plans for oil and gas and building technical services businesses. The regularisation plans will see Propel Global take over the listing status of Daya Materials on April 28. The company will trade under the stock name PGB and stock code 0091 on Bursa Malaysia's Main Market. (BTimes)

Anzo Holdings: Bursa Securities issues show-cause notice over suspension, delisting. Bursa Securities had on April 27 given a show-cause notice to Anzo Holdings over the suspension and delisting of its securities from the official list of Bursa Malaysia. The regulator has informed the company to furnish it with representations by May 6. (The Edge)

Ireka Corp: Appoints Baker Tilly as new external auditor. Ireka Corp has appointed Messrs Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng PLT as its new external auditor for the financial year ended June 30, 2022 until the next Annual General Meeting (AGM). Ireka recently received a written notice from Messrs Crowe Malaysia PLT indicating its intention to resign as the external auditors of the company owing to a lack of audit resources. (The Edge)

Market Update

The FBM KLCI might open with a positive bias today as US stocks inched higher amid mixed earnings on Wednesday as strong gains from Microsoft helped alleviate investor sentiment after a tech sell off earlier in the week. The S&P 500 added 0.2%, veering towards posting its worst monthly performance since markets tumbled in March 2020. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was little changed. Microsoft, which has a market capitalisation of USD2trn, topped analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings in the latest quarter, with chief executive Satya Nadella predicting that tech spending would remain strong even if economic growth slowed. Meanwhile, Google parent Alphabet reported a USD1.5bn drop in quarterly profits following the closing bell on Tuesday, citing a slowdown in European advertising spending at its YouTube division, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of this earnings season some investors had hoped the dominance of Big Tech groups would secure their finances and relatively high valuations against the economic pressures of the war and the impact of surging inflation on household finances. Apple and Amazon have yet to report results. Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 share index closed up 0.7%.

Back home, Bursa Malaysia closed broadly lower on selling in heavyweights led by Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd, amid a mixed regional market performance due to uncertainties and heightened market volatility. The benchmark FBM KLCI was 10.7 points or 0.67% lower to 1,585.98 from Tuesday’s close of 1,596.68. Major markets in Asia were mixed, with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea falling more than 1% and Chinese indices gaining. The CSI 300 index of the largest stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 2.9%, recouping some of its recent losses. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was up 0.1%.

Source: PublicInvest Research - 28 Apr 2022