Economy

US: Republicans tee up debt-ceiling vote in Congress.  Republicans in the House of Representatives laid plans to advance  a debt-ceiling deal with Democratic President Joe Biden starting  Tuesday, with the aim of passing it through Congress before the US  government runs out of money early next week. The House Rules  Committee said it would take up the agreement on Tuesday  afternoon, which could clear the way for a vote by the Republican-controlled chamber. The package also must pass the Democratic-controlled Senate before Biden can sign it into law. (Reuters)

EU: Eurozone bond yields edge lower ahead of inflation data.  Euro zone government bond yields ticked lower as investors await  inflation data later this week while US financial markets were closed  for holiday. Cash US Treasuries were untraded in Asia and Europe,  owing to the Memorial Day holiday, while futures were steady after  an agreement on the US debt ceiling. President Joe Biden finalized  a budget deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the  USD31.4trn debt limit until Jan 1, 2025, and said the deal was ready  to move to Congress for a vote. (Reuters)

Japan: Jobless rate falls in positive sign for wages, prices.  Japan’s unemployment rate fell for the first time in three months,  potentially feeding into higher wages and providing a boost to the  Bank of Japan’s sustainable inflation goal down the line. The  jobless rate dropped to 2.6% in April, down from 2.8% in March, the  ministry of internal affairs reported. Economists had expected the  unemployment rate to decline to 2.7%. The number of those without  jobs declined by 150,000 from the previous month. (Bloomberg)

Hong Kong: Home prices edge up 0.54% in April. Hong Kong  private home prices climbed 0.54% in April from March, marking  four months of increases, although the rise was the lowest over that  period and the outlook could see more pressure due to  macroeconomic uncertainties at home and abroad. The slight rise in  home prices last month in the financial hub, ranked by survey  company Demographia as the least affordable city in the world for a  thirteenth consecutive year, followed a revised 1.6% gain in March.  (Reuters)

Singapore: Producer prices decline 4.6%. Singapore's producer  prices decreased for the third straight month in April, largely due to  a slump in the oil index, data from the Department of Statistics  showed. The manufacturing producer price index fell 4.6% YoY in  April, slightly faster than the 4.4% rise in the prior month. The oil  index plunged 21.0% annually in April, and the non-oil index  showed a comparatively smaller decrease of 1.1%. (RTT)

New Zealand: House prices to rise earlier than expected. New  Zealand’s house prices will start rising in the second half of 2023,  several quarters earlier than expected, in response to looser monetary conditions and surging immigration, according to ANZ  Bank New Zealand. Prices will likely gain 1.6% in both the third and  fourth quarters, the lender said. The nation’s housing market has declined about 16% over the past year and a half. Property prices began tumbling in the final months of 2021 and most economists expected them to drop by about 25% as rising interest rates forced buyers to the sidelines. (Bloomberg)

Markets

Southern Cable: Inks RM44.8m battery systems contract from  TM. Cable and wire manufacturer Southern Cable Group has secured a letter of award (LOA) from TM to supply the battery systems for the 5G network infrastructure rollout. The contract was valued at RM44.8m for a period of three years beginning June 1,  2023 until May 31, 2026. In a bourse filing, the group said the LOA  was awarded to its wholly-owned subsidiary Southern Cable SB by  TM Technology Services SB — a wholly-owned subsidiary of TM — to supply, deliver, install, test and commission the battery systems  including its associate engineering services and accessories for  TM’s regional hubs in peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.  (The Edge)

Ann Joo: Sees bearish outlook for steel industry. Ann Joo  Resources sees bearish sentiment in the steel market outlook given global recession fears and China strains after posting its third straight net loss of RM21.08m in 1QFY2023. This comes on the back of lower selling price coupled with a higher cost of sales attributable to higher inventory cost. “The outlook of the global steel market is clouded by bearish sentiment, as global recession fears and supply demand imbalance in China are expected to stymie demand recovery momentum, Ann Joo said. (The Edge)

Leon Fuat: Optimistic about 2023 performance. Leon Fuat is optimistic of achieving positive results for the remaining quarters of the year, according to ED Calvin Ooi Shang How. “The headwinds remain considerable with slower growth momentum in the domestic economy and a challenging operating landscape impacted by high costs and a weak ringgit,” he said in a statement. Ooi said the group would continue to seek out new customers among small-medium  enterprises across various industries. (StarBiz)

Paramount: To launch property projects with GDV of RM1.1bn.  Paramount Corp targets to launch properties with an estimated  GDV of RM1.1bn in the remaining nine months of 2023. “The  Group's unbilled sales of RM1.4bil as at March will provide some visibility on the group's cashflow in the near term. However, the pace at which this can be converted into billings would depend largely on the construction progress of projects,” the developer said.  As at March 31, Paramount’s undeveloped land stood at 525.8  acres. (StarBiz)

Green Packet: Bestinet CFO is new single largest shareholder of Green Packet. Datuk Seri Andy Lim Kok Han has ceased to be a  substantial shareholder of Green Packet after disposing of 358.2m  shares in the group on May 26. Green Packet said Kunal Tayal acquired 373.2m shares on the same day when Lim disposed of his shares in Green Packet. The acquisition was made through his private vehicle Authethic Design Resources SB making Kunal the new single largest shareholder in Green Packet with an 18.71%  stake. Kunal is a non-independent and non-executive director of G3  Global. He is also the CFO of Bestinet SB. (The Edge)

Lay Hong: Returns to profitability in FY2023 despite lower 4Q  earnings. Despite a 31.85% drop in its fourth-quarter earnings, Lay  Hong was back in the black for FY2023. The group’s quarterly net profit shrank to RM12.9m in 4QFY2023, from RM18.9m a year earlier, mainly due to higher cost of sales. Earnings per share decreased to 1.74 sen from 2.56 sen, according to the group's bourse filing on May 29. (The Edge)

MARKET UPDATE

Overnight, markets in the US and UK were closed for a holiday on  Monday, but stock futures in Asia tipped the S&P 500 to rise 0.2%  and the tech-focused Nasdaq to gain 0.4%. The S&P 500 rose more than 1% on Friday to its highest level in nine months on growing hopes for a debt ceiling deal. Turkey’s lira hit a new low against the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan secured a  victory in the country’s election over the weekend. The lira weakened to 20.08 on Monday, the latest in a string of record lows,  as investors soured on Erdoðan extending his rule into a third decade after beating his rival on Sunday in a bitterly contested  election run-off. The lira has slumped more than 7% so far this year.

In the region, Japan’s benchmark Topix stock index rose 0.7% and  Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up about 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang  Seng was down 1% and China’s CSI 300 shed 0.4%. Back home,  Bursa Malaysia’s main index ended in positive territory after a see-saw trading session, boosted by gains in selected heavyweights led by Press Metal Aluminium Holdings and CelcomDigi. At the closing bell, the FBM KLCI went up 1.95 points to close at 1,404.93  compared with 1,402.98 at last Friday's close.

Source: PublicInvest Research - 30 May 2023